Discrimination of Wild Tea Germplasm Resources (Camellia sp.) Using RAPD Markers

<正> Discrimination of 24 wild tea germplasm resources (Camellia sp.) using RAPD markers was conducted. The result showed that RAPD markers were very effective tool and method in wild tea germplasm discrimination. There were 3 independent ways to discriminate tea germplasms, a) unique RAPD markers, b) specific band patterns and c) a combination of the band patterns or DNA fingerprinting provided by different primers. The presence of 16 unique RAPD markers and the absence of 3 unique markers obtained from 12 primers made it possible to discriminate 14 germplasms. Using the unique band patterns of primer OPO-13 could discriminate 10 tea germplasms. It was of much importance using minimum primers to obtain maximum discrimination capacity. All the 24 wild tea germplasms could be discriminated easily and entirely by the band patterns combination or DNA fingerprinting obtained from OPO-13, OPO-18, OPG-12 and OPA-13, including two wild tea trees of very similar morphological characteristics and chemical components.