Chapter 15
Genomics and Molecular Markers
inCannabis sativa L.
Chiara Onofri and Giuseppe Mandolino
Abstract Over the last twenty years, the development of molecular markers in
Cannabis sativasignificantly contributed to the advancement of knowledge of the
genome structure of the species. Male-associated markers have contributed to the
understanding of chromosome structure and composition of sexual chromosomes;
microsatellites have highlighted the extent of the genetic variation ofCannabis;
research on chemotype-associated markers has been of great relevance in the
development of an increasingly refined view of the biochemistry and physiology of
the chemotype determinants inCannabis. Moreover, the application of extensive
sequencing, which enabled the determination of thefirstCannabisgenomes and
transcriptomes, has boosted the availability of sequences associated to specific
traits. In this chapter, the development of different types of molecular markers and
their application to the most relevant traits forCannabisbreeding are described and
discussed.
15.1 Introduction
Despite a comparatively limited acreage worldwide,Cannabis sativais considered
an important species; a source offiber for both the textile and paper industries, of
seeds endowed with high protein and oil with an interesting fatty acid profile, and of
secondary products (especially cannabinoids) with therapeutic properties that are
still far from being fully explored by clinical research (Giacoppo et al. 2014 ).
Independently from its acreage and impact on production, however,Cannabis
has been the subject of a significant amount of research on genetics, genomics and
post-genomics; however, progress has been delayed by the fact thatCannabisis a
dioecious, highly heterozygous and variable species, with a high degree of response
plasticity to environmental conditions and practices of cultivation.
C. OnofriG. Mandolino (&)
CREA–Centro di ricerca per le colture industriali,
Via di Corticella 133, 40128 Bologna, Italy
e-mail: [email protected]
©Springer International Publishing AG 2017
S. Chandra et al. (eds.), Cannabis sativaL. - Botany and Biotechnology,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-54564-6_15
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