Abstract
We have developed SSR (simple sequence repeats) markers for identification of tea cultivars developed and registered in Japan using nucleotide information from Camellia sinensis. Among 44 primer pairs investigated, 6 primers were found to uniquely identify tea cultivars. The selected markers were polymorphic, showing 4 to 13 different fragments per marker, and a minimum of 2 markers was sufficient to distinguish all 41 cultivars investigated. In this study, we also tested the detection of cultivar contamination. As a model for contaminated samples, ‘Kanayamidori’ was mixed in ‘Benifuuki’. PCR products amplified by SSR marker 11D02T were analyzed by capillary electrophoresis by means of DNA sequencer. The peak derived from ‘Kanayamidori’ was detected even in a mixing ratio of 2% (w/w). This shows that the present method is useful for the identification of Japanese tea cultivars and can be applied to powdered tea.
