Introducing DNA Finger Printing in Breeding of Kalanchoë
Knud Jepsen A/S has carried out plant breeding and clonal selection in Kalanchoe blossfeldiana and other Kalanchoe species for a very long time. Commercial breeding has produced many cultivars that conform to the broad phenotype of, for example, flower colour, size, and form as well as leaf morphology. The selection and identification of cultivars has until now been based on morphological and physiological characteristics only. However, the phenotype is only partially determined by the genetic information. The impact of the genotype can be masked by environmental factors. By using molecular identification techniques it becomes possible to detect directly specific fragments of genetic information and to follow these fragments in crossing experiments. Also the control of patent rights may be more efficient.
Several important traits are controlled by a relatively large number of loci; each makes a contribution to produce the final phenotype value of the trait. Such loci are called
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