Characterization of Filbert (Corylus) Species and Cultivars Using Gradient Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis
A chemical identification procedure previously used to identify apple and pear species, cultivars and clonal accessions, was tried with Corylus (filbert, hazel) species, cultivars and clonal accessions. Following electrophoresis, the peroxidase, phenol oxidase, and acid phosphatase isozyme patterns on anionic polyacrylamide gradient gels were determined. These patterns were found to vary between clonal accessions, but did not change, within a given accession during and following the test period (May through October). Thus, these patterns were considered to represent genetic characteristics suitable for identification purposes. The patterns were used to identify 78 Corylus accessions at the National Clonal Germplasm Repository Corvallis, Oregon. All accessions tested (species, cultivars and clones) were distinguishable using this system. The diversity of isozyme patterns was greater in Corylus than Pyrus populations previously sampled. This technique appears to have the potential to readily identify filbert accessions and could be an important aid in the characterization of germplasm material.
Contributor Notes
Contribution of Oregon State Experiment Station in cooperation with ARS/USDA, and published as Oregon Agricultural Experiment Station Technical Paper No. 7996. The authors wish to acknowledge those who contributed to this study: P. Breen and W. Proebsting for reading the manuscript, M. Thompson for help in taxonomic matters, N. Daley for editorial help, R. Boone and T. Pacheco for technical assistance and instrument design and construction, J. Snead and J. Chandler for field and greenhouse support. We also express thanks to the International Board for Plant Genetic Resources for supporting the senior author, the Cooperative State Genetic Resources USDA-CSRS program for support of the National Clonal Germplasm, Corvallis, and to Sigma Chemical Company for their kind gift of reagents.
2Senior Scientific Officer, National Agricultural Research Centre, P.O. N.I.H. Islamabad, Pakistan.
3Assistant Professor of Horticulture, Research Associate, and Research Horticulturist ARS/USDA, National Clonal Germplasm Repository, Department of Horticulture, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331.