ORIGINAL PAPER Development of SCAR marker for sex identification in dioecious Garcinia gummi-gutta Kadanthottu Sebastian Joseph • Hosakatte Niranjana Murthy • Kundapura Venkataramana Ravishankar Received: 5 May 2014 / Revised: 26 June 2014 / Accepted: 11 August 2014 Ó Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2014 Abstract Key message We have developed sex-specific SCAR marker for the identification of dioecious Garcinia gummi-gutta (L.), which is useful for the selection of G. gummi-gutta at seedling stage and for plantation programmes. Abstract Garcinia gummi-gutta (L.) Robs. is a dioecious fruit yielding tree, which is naturally distributed as well as cultivated in the orchards in Western Ghat regions of India. A sex-linked DNA fragment was identified in Garcinia gummi-gutta (L.) Robs. by screening 150 randomly amplified polymorphic DNA primers and only one of them (OPBD20) showed different amplification band pattern associated with sex type. This sex-linked fragment was converted into male-specific sequence-characterized amplified region (SCAR) marker, CAM-566. The primers deigned in this study (OPBD20F and OPBD20R) correctly differentiated 12 male and 12 female plants at high annealing temperatures. Thus, a 556-bp band was amplified in male samples but not in female ones. Nevertheless, it should be noted that the fragments from both sexes were amplified at relatively low annealing temperatures. Addi- tionally, the developed SCAR marker successfully identi- fied the sexes of ten sex-unknown samples. Therefore, it can be used as an effective, convenient and reliable tool for sex determination in such dioecious species. Keywords DNA markers Á Dioecious Á RAPD Á Sex-specific fragments Á Tree species Introduction Garcinia gummi-gutta (L.) Robs. (Clusiaceae) is an ende- mic, semi-domesticated, fruit yielding tree species distrib- uted in the Western Ghats regions of India and Sri Lanka (Ramesh and Pascal 1997; Abraham et al. 2006). It is a multipurpose tree; the rinds of the ripe fruits are used as condiment and garnish. Fruit juice or syrup is used as a coolant (Orwa et al. 2009). The fruits rich in hydroxy citric acid which is used as an anti-obesity drug (Jena et al. 2002). Fat obtained from seeds is used as vegetable butter (Singh 1993). Its wood is used in construction and furniture making (Orwa et al. 2009). Resin obtained from the trees is used in medicine as a purgative. G. gummi-gutta extract has been used traditionally in Indian medicine to treat tumor, ulcers, hemorrhoids, diarrhea, fever, open sores, and parasites (Duke et al. 2002). Various bioactive phytochemicals such as garcinol, benzophenones and xanthones isolated from G. gummi-gutta have antibacterial, antiviral and antioxidant activities (Masullo et al. 2008; Hemshekhar et al. 2011). It is a dioecious tree with male and female individuals (Joshi et al. 2006; Abraham et al. 2006). Many species of Garcinia are apomictic and existence of male or male function, is debated (Richards 1990). Flowering starts in seed-grown plants after 10–12 years and will attain the stage of full bearing at the age of 12–15 years (Orwa et al. 2009). It is also cultivated in the plantations and backyards, however, it takes 10–12 years to know the Communicated by F. Canovas. K. S. Joseph Á H. N. Murthy (&) Plant Biotechnology Laboratory, Department of Studies in Botany, Karnatak University, Dharwad 580003, India e-mail: nmurthy60@yahoo.co.in K. V. Ravishankar Division of Biotechnology, Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Hessaraghatta Lake Post, Bangalore 560089, India 123 Trees DOI 10.1007/s00468-014-1074-2