Level of heterozygosity and mode of inheritance of variable number of tandem repeat loci in avocado

To estimate heterozygosity level in the avocado (Persea americana Mill.) genome, two types of variable number of tandem repeat (VNTR) markers were used. Multilocus DNA fingerprints (DFPs) were analyzed on avocado progeny resulting from either crosses or selfing of cultivars. In five crosses, heterozygosity was 100%, while in two self-pollinated families, heterozygosity was 90% and 94%. Single locus, simple sequence repeat (SSR) DNA markers were analyzed by typing 59 loci on five avocado cultivars. Average heterozygosity varied from 11.50 to 0.66, while gene diversity varied from 11.42 to 0.66. Heterozygosity varied from 38% to 70%. The percentage of fragments that exhibited Mendelian inheritance was 62.5% to 85% (P < 0.05) for the DFP fragments and 85% for the SSR alleles.