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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 58(3)

Assessment of clonal stability of in vitro regenerated shoots of Macadamia tetraphylla by RAPD analysis

Richard M. S. Mulwa A B and Prem L. Bhalla A C
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Plant Molecular Biology and Biotechnology Laboratory, Faculty of Land and Food Resources, The University of Melbourne, Vic. 3010, Australia.

B Permanent address: Department of Horticulture, Egerton University, PO Box 536, Njoro, Kenya. Email: risamuk@yahoo.co.uk

C Corresponding author. Email: premlb@unimelb.edu.au

Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 58(3) 253-257 https://doi.org/10.1071/AR06125
Submitted: 21 April 2006  Accepted: 4 December 2006   Published: 16 March 2007

Abstract

Macadamia nuts constitute an important part of the world nut industry and are highly valued for their health-promoting properties. Macadamia is an open-pollinated crop that takes 8–12 years to bear fruit when multiplied via seeds. The yield and nut quality in seedling plantations are often highly variable, and grafting is currently the most common method for producing nursery trees with reduced variability. We have previously reported on the tissue-culture propagation of macadamia, and in the present study we assessed the clonal integrity of the regenerated shoots. The RAPD profiles of 3 macadamia stock plants and 10 in vitro regenerated lines from each stock plant were analysed to assess the clonal integrity of the shoots regenerated in vitro for micropropagation purposes. The extent of genetic variation between the stock plants and 9 randomly selected seedlings was also assessed. There was no difference in clonal identity between the stock plants and their micropropagated progeny, indicating that clonal micropropagation was possible using enhanced axillary proliferation in macadamia. In contrast, there was a large genetic variation among the seedlings and between the seedlings and stock plants, with genetic distance estimates ranging from 0.121 to 0.637 among seedlings, indicating rampant out-crossing of the macadamia plant.

Additional keywords: macadamia propagation, genetic variation.


Acknowledgments

Support from the Australian Macadamia Society and Horticulture Australia Ltd is gratefully acknowledged. The authors also thank Prof. Quinsheng Wu for critical comments on the manuscript, and the Australian Government for awarding R.M.S.M. an ADCOS scholarship to study at The University of Melbourne.


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