Hypervariable spacer regions are good sites for developing specific PCR-RFLP markers and PCR primers for screening actinorhizal symbionts.

While the ribosomal RNA like highly conserved genes are good molecular chronometers for establishing phylogenetic relationships, they can also be useful in securing the amplification of adjoining hyper-variable regions. These regions can then be used for developing specific PCR primers or PCR-RFL profiles to be used as molecular markers. We report here the use of ITS region of rrn operon of Frankia for developing PCR-RFL profiles capable of discriminating between closely related frankiae. We have also made use of the ITS1 region of the nuclear rrn operon of Alnus nepalensis (D Don) for designing a PCR primer for specific amplification of nuclear DNA of this tree.