High Resolution Melting (HRM) analysis in eggplant (Solanum melongena L.): A tool for microsatellite genotyping and molecular characterization of a Greek Genebank collection Ioannis Ganopoulos a, b, 1 , Aliki Xanthopoulou a, b, 1 , Anna Mastrogianni a, e , Andreas Drouzas e , Apostolos Kalivas c , Fotios Bletsos d , S. Konstantinos Krommydas b , Parthenopi Ralli f , Athanasios Tsaftaris a, b , Panagiotis Madesis a, * a Institute of Applied Biosciences, CERTH, Thermi, Thessaloniki 570 01, Greece b Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, School of Agriculture, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki 54 124, Greece c Cotton and Industrial Plants Institute, Hellenic Agricultural Organization “Demeter”, Thermi, Thessaloniki 57001, Greece d Department of Vegetables, Hellenic Agricultural Organization “Demeter”, Thermi, Thessaloniki 57001, Greece e Department of Botany, School of Biology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece f Hellenic Agricultural Organization Demeter, Greek Gene Bank, Thermi, Thessaloniki 57001, Greece article info Article history: Received 22 August 2014 Accepted 1 November 2014 Available online Keywords: Eggplant Microsatellites Genotyping HRM analysis Genebank collection abstract The conservation and characterization of eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) genetic re- sources in germplasm banks has been the basis of their use in breeding projects, which has resulted in the development of new cultivars. High Resolution Melting (HRM) analysis, combined with eight microsatellite markers, has been integrated in order to facilitate the molecular identification and characterization of the eggplant germplasm, collected from the National Genebank Collection of Greece. The eight microsatellite loci used were highly informative and generated sixty three HRM profiles, which were sufficient to discriminate all eggplant landraces and cultivars studied, highlighting its potential use for cultivar genotyping. The thirty six eggplant genotypes were classified into four clusters. Hence, this assay provided a fast, cost-effective and closed-tube microsatellite genotyping method, well suited for molecular characterization of eggplant cultivars. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Solanum melongena is a diploid species of the Solanaceae family (2n ¼ 2x ¼ 24), primarly domesticated by inhabitants of South and East Asia (Polignano et al., 2010) and subsequently transferred to Europe through Arab trade or migration around 600 CE (Daunay, 2008). S. melongena, commonly known as eggplant, is widely used as a crop species. It is only the third most important crop in terms of consumption, behind potatoes and tomatoes, from the Solanaceae family (http://faostat.fao. orgwebsite). It is intensively cultivated in China and India, while in 2009 Europe, and particularly Italy, represented the 2.4% of the world's production. * Corresponding author. E-mail address: pmadsesis@certh.gr (P. Madesis). 1 These two authors contributed equally to this work. Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Biochemical Systematics and Ecology journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/biochemsyseco http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bse.2014.11.003 0305-1978/© 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Biochemical Systematics and Ecology 58 (2015) 64e71