Blueberry: germplasm characterization and food traceability by the use of molecular markers

In commercial orchards, mislabelled Vaccinium accessions are very common, and accurate DNA fingerprinting is useful in order to verify the cultivar identification given by nurseries. To discriminate cultivars using molecular markers, DNA was extracted using a commercial kit and amplified with a microsatellite primer sets (30 loci) developed from EST (Expressed Sequence Tag) and genomic libraries. Standard microsatellite data analysis was carried out in order to classify all accessions and to develop a reference for growers which can be used to protect them from fraud and mislabelling. To protect not only the growers but also the final consumers, we extended the impact of our study to food products that contain blueberry. A protocol developed for difficult matrices rich in polysaccharides, was used to extract DNA from food in order to detect blueberry presence. The quality and quantity of specific DNA extracted and the discrimination from other plant species and genera (like Malus, Rubus or Ribes) was achieved using traditional PCR and Real Time PCR, based on the application of microsatellites and other specific molecular markers.