EVALUATION OF GENETIC DIVERSITY AND CLONAL IDENTITY OF EUROPEAN LARCH USING MICROSATELLITE MARKERS

The aim of the study was to determine the possibility of using SSR markers for assessing clonal identity of European larch (Larix decidua Mill.) trees in seed orchards and determine the suitability of markers for the analysis of genetic diversity in populations of European larch in the Czech Republic. Total genomic DNA was extracted by DNA Plant Mini Kit (QIAGEN) from young needles taken from 218 sampled trees of two seed orchards. Samples were screened using thirteen selected polymorphic nuclear microsatellite markers. Measuring of the size of amplification products was carried out using Applied Biosystems 3500 genetic analyser. The obtained data was analysed by statistical programs CERVUS and GenAlEx 6.503. 155 different alleles were detected at 13 loci of the 218 larch individuals from two seed orchards. By applying the 13 suitable markers to the 90 clones from model seed orchards we obtained multilocus genotypes (MLG). The obtained results illustrate the utility of the microsatellite loci for assessing spatial patterns of genetic diversity and for individual genotypes identification. 98.24% of the sampled trees could be assigned to the clones represented in the Bilovice seed orchard. The tested genetic loci were verified as highly polymorphic and could be further used for clonal identification and genetic diversity evaluation of European larch trees. For more information see Summary at the end of the article.