LEAF ISOZYMES AS GENETIC MARKERS IN DATE PALMS

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Abstract
The date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) is a long‐lived, dioecious, arborescent monocotyledon which must be propagated vegetatively by offshoots to maintain clones. An extensive breeding program begun in 1948 at Indio, California, to obtain superior lines has resulted in the production of several seedling populations of known parents. These were used to study the genetic control of isozymes of alcohol dehydrogenase, esterase, glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase, phosphoglucose isomerase and phosphoglucose mutase from leaf tissue. The five enzyme systems are specified by seven polymorphic genes with 14 alleles. Additional polymorphism was found in two other species of Phoenix. Twenty‐six female and 20 male date palm cvs. were genotyped to provide, insofar as is known, the first single‐gene markers for the date palm and perhaps for any arborescent monocotyledon.
Funding Information
  • National Science Foundation (DEB76–10777)