The RFLP and RAPD techniques were applied to identify the useful agronomic traits (cytoplasmic male-sterility in sugar beet, resistance to the nematode Meloydogine incognita in tomato, sexual chromosomes in hemp), to check the genetic stability of potato microplant and vitrotubers and to detect the genetic polymorphism in potato, sugar beet and hemp.
Polymorphism has been identified between sugar beet type N and type S (or Owen) cytoplasms. The identification is currently underway of markers for the restoration of fertility, carried out on NIL material.
In hemp, the male plants have been characterised by a DNA fragment of approximately 400 bp, detectable with the RAPD or RFLP technique which makes possible early sex recognition.
The genetic stability of potato propagules, multiplied in vitro, and the highlighting of any somaclonal variability has been checked with RFLP, using cloned probes and highly informative restriction enzymes.
The Institute has sugar beet, potato, bean and hemp germplasm. This is a vast genic pool which provides the traits required for genetic improvement programs (dwarf, resistance to viral, fungal and bacterial diseases, quality traits required by the processing industries, resistance to low temperatures, etc.).
In sugar beet, the genetic diversity has been estimated using a DNA genomic probe pool. The data have made it possible to build trees of genetic similarity (dendrograms). A similar approach has been used for hemp and potato.