ARS | Publication request: CHARACTERIZATION AND EVALUATION OF MICROSATELLITE LOCI IN EUROPEAN HAZELNUT (CORYLUS AVELLANA L.) AND THEIR TRANSFERABILITY TO OTHER CORYLUS SPECIES

Submitted to: Molecular Ecology Notes
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: June 22, 2005
Publication Date: June 22, 2005
Citation: Boccacci, P., Akkak, A., Bassil, N.V., Mehlenbacher, S.A., Botta, R. 2005. Characterization and evaluation of microsatellite loci in european hazelnut (corylus avellana l.) and their transferability to other corylus species. Molecular Ecology Notes. 5(2005):934-937.

Interpretive Summary: The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) - Agricultural Research Service (ARS) - National Clonal Germplasm Repository (NCGR) in Corvallis, Oregon, preserves more than 740 hazelnuts, including true-to-name representatives of the common species. This study is part of an ongoing effort by the NCGR and the breeding program at Oregon State University in cooperation with the University of Torino to develop robust tools (markers) that can be used to identify hazelnut (Corylus avellana L.) genotypes. Eighteen markers were able to distinguish between 20 types of hazelnuts. These tools will verify the identity of hazelnut varieties in the NCGR collection and develop characteristic ‘fingerprints’ for each type. They will also track genetic patterns of traits for hazelnut breeding programs in Oregon and Italy.

Technical Abstract: In this work, 18 microsatellite loci were developed in the European hazelnut (Corylus avellana L.) using three enriched genomic libraries. They were evaluated on a set of 20 accessions of this species on the basis of number of alleles (mean: 7.1), expected heterozygosity (mean: 0.67), power of discrimination (mean: 0.77) and polymorphism information content (mean: 0.64). Cross-species transferability was evaluated using seven other Corylus species. All primer pairs amplified in all species, except for CaT-C505 in Corylus ferox and CaT-A114 in Corylus californica.