Differentiation between Reciprocal-crossed Hybrids of Dendrobium officinale and D.huoshanense Using SSR Markers

The authenticity of hybrids created by reciprocal crossing between Dendrobium officinale and D. huoshanense was not always apparent. To resolve the confusion, this study applied SSR markers to differentiate them among 63 F1 generation of the hybrids. Three out of 21 pairs of the SSR primers were found to have polymorphic bands, i.e., 14.3% of all, in the parental lines. By using these 3 pairs of primers, 25 out of 32 known (D. officinale×D. huoshanense) hybrids were correctly identified rendering a positive identification rate of 78.1%; while, 28 out of 31 known (D. huoshanense×D. officinale) hybrids were positively identified with a rate of 90.3%.