DNA fingerprinting of cultivated rice with rice retrotransposon probes

Cloned sequences of three retrotransposons of rice, Tos1-1, Tos2-1 and Tos3-1, were used as molecular genetic markers to distinguish the cultivars of Asian and African rice, Oryza sativa and Oryza glaberrima. DNAs of six cultivars each of Indica and Japonica types of O. sativa were analyzed after digestion with four different restriction enzymes. Indica cultivars could be distinguished from each other by any of three types of one probe-one restriction enzyme combination. Although the hybridization patterns were similar among Japonica cultivars, these cultivars could be distinguished from each other by one type of one probe-one enzyme combination. Five cultivars of O. glaberrima examined were also distinguished from each other by using one probe-one enzyme combination. The results shown here indicate that retrotransposon-mediated fingerprinting is an efficient method to distinguish or identify the cultivars of rice. Retrotransposonmediated fingerprinting should become a general method, because retrotransposons are ubiquitous in plant species and retrotransposon probes can easily be obtained from any plant species.