Morphological and molecular analyses of Rosa damascena × R. bourboniana interspecific hybrids

Rosa damascena Mill is the most important scented rose species cultivated for rose oil production. Rosa bourboniana L. (Edward rose), a related species, is popular on account of its longer blooming period and ease of propagation. With an aim to combine the oil quality of R. damascena and recurrent flowering habit of R. bourboniana, two cultivars (Jwala and Himroz) of R. damascena were crossed with R. bourboniana. The F1 hybrids obtained were evaluated using morphological, random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and microsatellite (SSR) markers. Twenty-two selected RAPD and three SSR primer pairs were utilized for hybrid identification. According to presence or absence of bands RAPD and SSR markers were classified into seven types of markers. The bands specific for the pollen parent and occurring in the hybrids were good markers to confirm the hybridity. The non-parental bands expressing uniquely in hybrids were effective in distinguishing the hybrids from each other. Cluster analysis, based on Jaccard's similarity coefficient using unweighted pair group method based on arithmetic mean (UPGMA), reliably discriminated the hybrids into two main clusters. These results indicate the practical usefulness of RAPD and SSR markers in hybrid identification in scented roses. The approach is advantageous for its rapidity and simplicity, for identification of hybrids at the juvenile stage. One of the studied morphological traits – prickle density, can also complement in the identification of interspecific hybrids between R. damscena (♀) and R. bourboniana (♂).