A partial genetic linkage map of slash pine (Pinus elliottii Engelm. var. elliottii) based on random amplified polymorphic DNAs.

A set of 420 random, 10-base, oligonucleotide primers was screened for random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) fragments within a sample of eight megagametophyte DNAs of a single slash pine (Pinus elliottii Engelm. var. elliottii) tree. The apparently repeatable RAPD fragments were further characterized within a sample of 68 megagametophytes from the same tree. Fragments segregating in a 1∶1, present-to-absent, ratio were classified and mapped using multi-point linkage analysis. The analysis revealed 13 linkage groups of at least three loci, ranging in size from 28 to 68 cM, and nine linked pairs of loci. The 22 groups and pairs included 73 RAPD markers and covered a genetic map distance of approximately 782 cM. Genome size estimates, based on linkage data, ranged from 2880 to 3360 cM. Using a 30-cM map scale and including the 24 unlinked markers and the ends of the 13 linkage groups and nine linked pairs, the set of RAPD markers accounts for approximately 2160 cM or 64-75% of the genome. This extent of genomic coverage should allow for the efficient mapping of genes responsible for a reaction to the causal agent of fusiform rust disease, Cronartium quercuum (Berk.) Miyabe ex Shirai f. sp. fusiforme.