SSR fingerprinting of raspberry cultivars traded in Germany clearly showed that certainty about the genotype authenticity is a prerequisite for any horticultural experiment

Raspberry (Rubus idaeus L.) cultivars are propagated vegetatively, as many other fruit species from the Rosaceae family. During propagation, mistaken identities of cultivars can be caused by mislabelling plants for various reasons. This poses a problem not only for growers who buy cultivars because of specific characteristics (e.g., resistance) but also for breeders who are being deprived of licensing fees for cultivars under Plant Variety Protection (PVP). In this study, six raspberry cultivars of up to six different origins were tested for trueness-to-type by fingerprinting with 16 SSR markers. Nine out of 33 samples turned out not to be true-to-type, seven from online shops and two from nurseries.