Abstract:
Objective The types, distribution frequencies and characteristics of expressed sequence tag-simple sequence repeats (EST-SSRs) were clarified through transcriptome analysis of buds of Rhododendron pulchrum Planch ("Zihe" variety). Moreover, the development of polymorphic SSR markers were performed, as well as their usage in genetic diversity analysis and potential for cross-amplification in related species.
Method RNA-seq data from buds of R. pulchrum were searched with MISA software. The characteristics of SSR loci were analyzed and SSR primers were designed with Primer 3.0. The effective primer pairs were used in genetic diversity analysis of R. pulchrum and R. simsii populations. The genetic parameters of population were calculated with POPGENE-pc 2.2 software.
Result Totally, 49 527 unigenes (43 766 249 bp) were obtained, and 16 120 SSR loci 1.(2.7 kb)-1 were searched, which accounted for 24.46% of the total unigenes. Repeat numbers of most SSR loci ranged between 5-24. Dinuclotide repeat was the most abundant type with a frequency of 59.70% (9 624), followed by mono-nucleotide repeat (3 738, 23.19%), and the least type was penta-nucleotide repeat (42, 0.26%). Moreover, the typical motifs were A/T, AG/CT, AAG/CTT, AGG/CCT, ACC/GGT, AGC/GCT、AAAG/CTTT, AAGAG/CTCTT, and AGAGGG/CCCTCT. The availability and polymorphism of the thirteen SSR markers selected were clarified in R. pulchrum population. A total of 71 alleles was scored, and the amount of allele (Na) and effective number of allele (Ne) per locus ranged from 3-9 and 1.684-5.930, respectively. The observed heterozygosity (HO) and expected heterozygosity (HE) varied from 0.000 to 1.000 and from 0.433 to 0.848, with the mean values of 0.696±0.426 and 0.705±0.129, respectively. Shannon's information index (I) and Nei's gene diversity (h) ranged from 0.736 to 1.961 and from 0.406 to 0.831, with the average values of 1.376±0.339 and 0.683±0.131, respectively. All these SSR markers could be successfully cross-amplified in the related species R. simsii, which also showed high genetic diversity. The genetic variation existed mainly among populations.
Conclusion The 13 polymorphic SSR markers based on unigenes containing (AG/CT)n loci will benefit for following genetic diversity analysis, genetic map construction, gene mapping, and molecular marker assisted breeding of Rhododendron species. Natural R. simsii germplasm resources possess high genetic diversity. Moreover, excess heterozygosity is observed, and genetic variation is mainly maintained among populations.