Appropriate traceability of agro-food products is essential to successfully certificate food quality and effectively safeguard the consumer by frauds. Nowadays, the relatively recent progresses of molecular profiling techniques allow discrimination of apparently similar plant varieties and/or their derived products [1]. However, these molecular analyses on food matrices, such as fruits, are hampered by the need to obtain DNA quality and quantity suitable for amplification by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Therefore, new ways to address this issue are highly desirable. Random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) is a PCR based on multilocus molecular markers that amplify random DNA targets in the genome [1]. These markers show DNA polymorphisms among closely related genotypes, without knowledge of the plant DNA sequence. To our best knowledge, studies concerning melon (Cucumis melo L.) traceability and authentication by molecular tools are scarce, although high amounts of molecular data have been accumulated on this valuable crop species [2,3]. The objective of this study was the application of RAPD markers for the molecular genetic characterization of cantaloupe melon by using the DNA extracted from dried peels. Total DNA was successfully obtained by cyclic ultrasound treatments and using a selected commercial kit. The RAPD-PCR was effective using 16 arbitrary primers and the results showed a discrete number of amplicons, ranging from 3 to 9 bands per primer, with a mean of 6.75. These preliminary findings will allow for obtaining cultivar-specific DNA fingerprint from melon peels. Furthermore, this study will provide a valid procedure to estimate varietal DNA profiles from refractory food matrices. Keywords: Food traceability; Melon; Cucumis melo; Peels; DNA profile References: 1. Madesis P. et al., 2014. Advances of DNA-based methods for tracing the botanical origin of food products. Food Research International, 60, 163-172. 2. Garcia-Mas J. et al., 2000. Comparing AFLP, RAPD and RFLP markers for measuring genetic diversity in melon. Theoretical and Applied Genetics, 101, 860-864. 3. Garcia-Mas J. et al., 2012. The genome of melon (Cucumis melo L.). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, 109(29), 11872-11877.
Analysis of DNA from cantaloupe melon (Cucumis melo L.) peel for varietal traceability
Luigi De Masi;Filomena Monica Vella;Bruna Laratta
2017
Abstract
Appropriate traceability of agro-food products is essential to successfully certificate food quality and effectively safeguard the consumer by frauds. Nowadays, the relatively recent progresses of molecular profiling techniques allow discrimination of apparently similar plant varieties and/or their derived products [1]. However, these molecular analyses on food matrices, such as fruits, are hampered by the need to obtain DNA quality and quantity suitable for amplification by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Therefore, new ways to address this issue are highly desirable. Random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) is a PCR based on multilocus molecular markers that amplify random DNA targets in the genome [1]. These markers show DNA polymorphisms among closely related genotypes, without knowledge of the plant DNA sequence. To our best knowledge, studies concerning melon (Cucumis melo L.) traceability and authentication by molecular tools are scarce, although high amounts of molecular data have been accumulated on this valuable crop species [2,3]. The objective of this study was the application of RAPD markers for the molecular genetic characterization of cantaloupe melon by using the DNA extracted from dried peels. Total DNA was successfully obtained by cyclic ultrasound treatments and using a selected commercial kit. The RAPD-PCR was effective using 16 arbitrary primers and the results showed a discrete number of amplicons, ranging from 3 to 9 bands per primer, with a mean of 6.75. These preliminary findings will allow for obtaining cultivar-specific DNA fingerprint from melon peels. Furthermore, this study will provide a valid procedure to estimate varietal DNA profiles from refractory food matrices. Keywords: Food traceability; Melon; Cucumis melo; Peels; DNA profile References: 1. Madesis P. et al., 2014. Advances of DNA-based methods for tracing the botanical origin of food products. Food Research International, 60, 163-172. 2. Garcia-Mas J. et al., 2000. Comparing AFLP, RAPD and RFLP markers for measuring genetic diversity in melon. Theoretical and Applied Genetics, 101, 860-864. 3. Garcia-Mas J. et al., 2012. The genome of melon (Cucumis melo L.). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, 109(29), 11872-11877.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
