Transferability of non-genic microsatellite and gene-based sunflower markers to safflower

• Published in: Euphytica 2010-09, Vol.175 (2), p.145-150
• Main Authors: García-Moreno, M. J, Velasco, L, Pérez-Vich, B
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Agronomy. Soil science and plant productions; alleles; Asteraceae; Biological and medical sciences; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biotechnology; Carthamus tinctorius; Classical and quantitative genetics. Population genetics. Molecular genetics; expressed sequence tags; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Generalities. Genetics. Plant material; Genes; Genetic markers; genetic polymorphism; Genetic polymorphisms; Genetic research; Genetics; Genetics and breeding of economic plants; germplasm; Helianthus; Helianthus annuus; heterozygosity; intron fragment length polymorphism; introns; Life Sciences; loci; microsatellite repeats; Molecular genetics; molecular sequence data; Plant Genetics and Genomics; Plant Pathology; Plant Physiology; Plant reproduction; Plant Sciences; resistance gene candidates; safflower seed products; species differences; sunflower seed products; Transgenic plants
• ISSN: 0014-2336; 1573-5060
• DOI: 10.1007/s10681-010-0139-6

Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) DNA marker resources are currently very limited. The objective of this study was to determine the feasibility of transferring non-genic microsatellite (SSR) markers and gene-based markers, including intron fragment length polymorphism (IFLP) and resistance gene candidates (RGC)-based markers from sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) to safflower, both species belonging to the Asteraceae family. Cross-species amplification of 119 non-genic SSRs, 48 IFLPs, and 19 RGC-based sunflower markers in 22 lines and germplasm accessions of safflower was evaluated. Additionally, 69 EST-SSR markers previously reported to amplify in safflower were tested. The results showed that 17.6% of the non-genic SSR, 56.2% of the IFLP, and 73.7% of the RGC-based markers were transferable to safflower. The percentage of transferable markers showing polymorphic loci was 66.6% for non-genic SSR, 70.6% for EST-SSR, 55.5% for IFLP, and 71.4% for RGC-based markers. The highest polymorphism levels were found for non-genic SSR. The average number of alleles per polymorphic locus and mean heterozygosity values were 2.9 and 0.46, respectively, for non-genic SSR, 2.2 and 0.35 for EST-SSR, 2.1 and 0.24 for IFLP, and 2.0 and 0.34 for RGC-based markers. The results of this study revealed a low rate of transferability for non-genic SSR sunflower markers and a better rate of transferability for IFLP and RGC-based markers. Transferable genic and non-genic sunflower markers can have utility for trait and comparative mapping studies in safflower.