Development and characterization of novel EST-SSR markers for Speranskia tuberculata (Euphorbiaceae)

Yi Fu; Miao-Miao Ju; Huan-Cheng Ma; Pei-Yao Xin; Cheng-Zhong He; Dong-Rui Jia; Bin Tian

doi:10.3732/apps.1600067

Development and characterization of novel EST-SSR markers for Speranskia tuberculata (Euphorbiaceae)

Appl Plant Sci. 2016 Oct 12;4(10):apps.1600067. doi: 10.3732/apps.1600067. eCollection 2016 Oct.

Authors

Yi Fu¹, Miao-Miao Ju¹, Huan-Cheng Ma¹, Pei-Yao Xin¹, Cheng-Zhong He¹, Dong-Rui Jia², Bin Tian³

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Biodiversity Conservation in Southwest China, State Forestry Administration, Southwest Forestry University, Kunming 650224, People's Republic of China.
² School of Ecology and Environmental Science, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, People's Republic of China.
³ Key Laboratory of Biodiversity Conservation in Southwest China, State Forestry Administration, Southwest Forestry University, Kunming 650224, People's Republic of China; Key Laboratory of Biodiversity and Biogeography, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650204, People's Republic of China.

Abstract

Premise of the study: The first set of expressed sequence tag-simple sequence repeat (EST-SSR) markers were developed and characterized for Speranskia tuberculata (Euphorbiaceae), a traditional medicinal plant endemic to northern China, to explore the effects of recent habitat fragmentation on the genetic diversity and structure of this species.

Methods and results: In this study, a total of 18 novel polymorphic microsatellite (EST-SSR) markers were developed for S. tuberculata using high-throughput transcriptome sequencing. Analysis of 24 individuals of S. tuberculata from four natural populations revealed their robust polymorphic reliability. The number of alleles per locus ranged from two to 11, while the expected and observed heterozygosity per marker varied from 0.187 to 0.827 and 0.042 to 0.917, respectively. Of these markers, 13 showed good amplification results in the closely related species S. cantonensis.

Conclusions: These newly generated SSR markers are expected to provide novel tools for genetic studies of S. tuberculata, which will contribute to the conservation and sustainable use of the species' wild genetic resources.

Keywords: Euphorbiaceae; Speranskia cantonensis; Speranskia tuberculata; expressed sequence tag–simple sequence repeat (EST-SSR); transcriptome sequencing.