Genetic fingerprinting is a process whereby a standard set of markers is used to genotype a number of lines. The genotypes are compared and can determine the amount of similarity between each line tested.

As the nature of agricultural production and breeding rapidly evolves, genetic fingerprinting holds many benefits including genetic characterization, variety protection, quality control and genetic traceability.

Example of an IMP fingerprint in maize:

Genetic Characterization

Genetic characterization is a powerful tool that helps breeders determine the levels of relatedness amongst all of their breeding lines. It is often used as supplemental information in the determination of what crosses to test.

Genetic characterization (dendogram) of maize lines

Variety protection

Genetic marker fingerprinting is now a widely accepted, legal method to protect against infringement by competitors. Detailed analyses can be generated determining the level of similarity between one variety and another using various marker systems.

Quality Control

Today, specialized “custom” traits are being introduced into crop varieties. It is becoming increasingly critical that the companies’ whose production systems depend on these traits can monitor the quality (genetic integrity) of their input crops easily and accurately.

Genetic Traceability

Genetic traceability is a specialized application of fingerprinting for quality control and is primarily used in livestock value chains. Genetic fingerprints of either or both parents are kept in a database. Should an issue arise regarding meat quality, DNA can be extracted from the product in question, genotyped and the resulting fingerprint can be used to trace the offspring back to its original parents. With this information producers can quickly and efficiently isolate the source of any problems and implement targeted corrective measures.