Molecular Verification of Putative Zygotic Seedlings in Different Intra-Specific Crosses in Mandarins (Citrus reticulata) by SSR Markers

The molecular verification of different intra-specific mandarin hybrids was explored during 2014–2015. Simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers were employed to identify putative zygotic seedlings from hybrid progeny produced from different crosses in mandarin. The most informative SSR marker in the F₁ hybrids of ‘Daisy × Kinnow’ cross was CCSM170 which identified 73% of zygotic seedlings followed by CMS4, AG14, CiBE6006 and CiBE3397 which identified 38.5%, 31.5%, 27% and 24% of zygotic seedlings, respectively. Most efficient SSR marker in ‘Kinnow × Daisy’ cross was CiBE6006 which identified 22.5% zygotic seedlings followed by CCSM170, CiBE3397 and CMS4 which identified 17.5%, 12.5% and 5.5% of zygotic seedlings, respectively. In ‘W. Murcott × Kinnow’ hybridization, CMS31 marker identified 28.5% zygotic seedlings in F₁ progeny followed by CiBE3298 which identified 14.5% zygotic seedlings. The SSR marker CiBE3397 identified 19.5% zygotic seedlings in ‘Kinnow × W. Murcott’ cross. The results show that the SSR markers can differentiate the zygotic seedlings of F₁ progeny in different intra-specific crosses in mandarins.