My thesis

I'm working in the Biotechnology Laboratory in INIA La Platina, but my thesis is part of a proyect of CEAF, in INIA Rayentué. It name is "Construction of a Prunus avium genetic map for identification of QTLs associated to characters of interest in juvenile stage". Prunus avium is the scientific name of sweet cherry, an important exportation fruit for the chilean economy because there are a big number of commercial orchands in our country which are producing this fruit for send it to Europe, Asia and United States.

The basis of my thesis are DNA analysis, or analysis of variations in specific DNA sequences of a poblation of sweet cherry trees ("brother trees"). The first activity of my thesis was to collect young leaves from adult cherry trees for DNA extraction ("mother and father trees"). I did the extraction last week... I'm very happy because is a big step!! Now, I'm waiting for the collect of leaves from small trees, in december. The next step is PCR, or DNA amplification, for the visualization of DNA variations among individuals.

DNA analysis are a very important molecular tool. We can construct genetic maps, which are being used in Molecular Breeding, an area of Breeding which allows to obtain new varieties using molecular markers (for identification of variation in DNA sequences). There is little information about genetic maps in cherries (only 4 maps have been publicated until this year). The goal of my thesis is to construct a new genetic map for a future use in identification of genes responsible of characteristics of the tree and fruit.

This kind of thesis is not a tool for direct help to students or people. It's only the inicial step for a large work in sweet cherry breeding... but... someone has to star the work....