Genome mapping and marker assisted introgression in white clover

White clover (Trifolium repens L.) is an important perennial forage legume of temperate pastures. The first genome map in white clover has been developed and new segregating families have been created that will allow marker assisted selection for key qualitative and quantitative traits. At IGER, molecular markers are also being used to increase the speed and precision of the introgression of important traits into white clover from related species. Bulked segregant approaches using amplified fragment length polymorphisms (AFLPs) have been used to identify markers for the rhizomatous habit from T. ambiguum and increased reproductive potential from T. nigrescens.