ARS | Publication request: GENETIC DIVERSITY IN FLOWERING DOGWOOD (CORNUS FLORIDA L.) USING MICROSATELLITE (SSR) MARKERS

Submitted to: Annual International Plant & Animal Genome Conference
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: October 5, 2005
Publication Date: January 17, 2006
Citation: Wang, X., Trigiano, R.N., Windham, M.T., Devries, R., Rinehart, T.A., Spiers, J.M., Scheffler, B.E. 2006. Genetic diversity in flowering dogwood (cornus florida l.) using microsatellite (ssr) markers. Annual International Plant & Animal Genome Conference.

Technical Abstract: Flowering dogwood (Cornus florida L.) is a popular ornamental species in North America, Asia and Europe. There are over 100 named cultivars, many of which were developed in different geographical areas. Our objective was to analyze the genetic backgrounds of flowering dogwood cultivars and breeding lines using microsatellite loci. Microsatellite loci, or SSR, are useful markers for studying genetic diversity and for creating linkage maps. Twelve SSR primer pairs were selected to examine 31 flowering dogwood cultivars and/or lines. A total of 129 alleles with an average of 4 alleles per loci were detected. DNA sequences of one SSR primer pair (designated dgwd0049) from flowering dogwood cultivars and/lines were aligned. This primer pair also showed the most alleles (8) among the 31 flowering dogwood cultivars/lines. Microsatellite motifs lengths varied from 2 to 16 repeats suggesting gene flow during movement of dogwood trees via the nursery trade or evolution.