Genetic Variances and DNA Fingerprints of 15 Teas in Fujian

Identification and preservation of tea cultivars plays a crucial role in the production and development of the tea industry in China.This paper presents the genetic variances and molecular fingerprints of 10 tea cultivars selected and cultivated by our research team and 5control cultivars in Fujian by using SSR molecular markers.It aimed to further clarify the genetic differences of these cultivars providing a basis for identification of newly improved tea cultivars and protection of intellectual property rights.In the course, 6core primer pairs with high polymorphism were selected from the 105 published pairs.The genetic similarity coefficient of the 15 tested cultivars varied greatly, ranging from 0.35 to 0.91.It generally reached above average (≥0.65) with high at 0.80-0.91 for the 8tea cultivars and 4control cultivars from South and North Fujian among the tested varieties.Consequently, there was little or no genetic differences among the cultivars.Applying the cluster analysis, all tested materials could be divided into 8groups at the similarity coefficient of 0.77, and 6groups in the similarity coefficient of 0.66.The molecular fingerprints of the tested cultivars were established using the primer pairs combination of W08, D07 and L11.The characteristic stripes obtained were between 210-630 bp, which could conceivably suffice successful identifications of individual cultivars.