Identification of molecular markers linked to closed capsule mutant trait in sesame

ABSTRACT IDENTIFICATION OF MOLECULAR MARKERS LINKED TO CLOSED CAPSULE MUTANT TRAIT IN SESAME Bülent UZUN Ph.D. Thesis in Field Crops Supervisor: Prof. M. İlhan ÇA?IRGAN January 2002, 95 pages AFLP and RAPD techniques with bulked segregant analysis were used to identify molecular markers linked to closed capsule mutant trait in sesame. Four mutant F2 populations consisting of three induced- and one natural-mutant were developed for the research. Bulk DNA samples made from the individuals belonging to the populations were used to identify molecular markers linked to closed capsule mutant trait in sesame. A total of 72 different primer combinations and 12 RAPD primers were screened to reveal polymorphisms for the character of interest on the genome of sesame. The study where 6840 loci screened with only AFLP markers, the association was found out between closed capsule mutant trait and iscoRI+AAG/Msel+CAT primer combination. The association was confirmed by analysing of the AFLP profile from single plants that form the bulks. As a result of the confirmation, the marker in trans sized 258 bp was closely linked to the closed capsule mutant trait. In addition, H5 RAPD primer, 5'- AGTCGTCCCC, was also found to be in relation to the character of the interest. With the present study, the use of AFLP and the identification of the linked marker in sesame crop were reported here for the first time. KEY WORDS: Sesame, Sesamum indicum L., closed capsule, AFLP, RAPD, bulked segregant analysis, molecular markers COMMITTEE: Prof. M. İlhan ÇA?IRGAN Prof. M. Emin TUGAY Prof. Metin B. YILDIRIM Assoc. Prof. Hüseyin BASIM Assoc. Prof. A. Naci ONUS