Molecular characterization of wild avocado from Nuevo León, México

Abstract

Mexico is the center of origin of the avocado (Persea americana Mill.), almost all the recognized members of the Persea genus occur primarily from the central part of Mexico to a large part of Central America. The objective of this work was to carry out the molecular characterization of the creole avocado germplasm of Nuevo León. The Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD's) technique was used. Twenty-seven materials of Creole avocado were collected in the southern region and sixteen in the northern region of the State of Nuevo León, Mexico. The level of genetic diversity detected was 84%, which is considered high. Specific fragments or only RAPD's type, present in a single individual, were observed, this type of fragments are of particular interest since they can be linked to a particular genotype and serve in the diagnosis to differentiate a genotype or a specific region of the genome. The above is of particular interest for the creole avocado of the State of Nuevo León, whose problem for marketing is the short shelf life that presents, therefore, finding great genetic variation as detected in this work increases the possibility of generating new materials whose shelf life is longer, enhancing its commercial value and on the other hand it could take advantage of the characteristic of some varieties that present contents of essential oils superior to that registered in commercial varieties such as the Hass.