Abstract The evolution of microsatellites was studied within and between the pine species. Sequences showed that microsatellites do not necessarily mutate in a stepwise fashion and that size homoplasy is common due to flanking sequence and repeat area changes within and between the species. Thus, some assumptions of statistical methods based on changes in repeat numbers may not hold. Sequences from cross-species amplifications revealed evidence of duplications of microsatellite loci in pines. On two independent occasions, the repeat area of the microsatellite had undergone a rapid expansion during the last 10-25 million of years. Microsatellite markers were used together with other molecular markers (allozymes, RFLPs, RAPDs, rDNA RFLPs) and an adaptive trait (date of bud set) to study patterns of genetic variation in Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) in Finland. All molecular markers showed high level of within population variation, while differentiation among populations was low (FST = 0.02). Of the total variation in bud set, 36.4 % was found among the populations which experience a steep climatic gradient. Thus, the markers applied were poor predictors of population differentiation of the quantitative trait studied The distribution of genetic variation was studied in five natural populations of radiata pine (Pinus radiata), species which has gone through bottlenecks in the past. Null allele frequencies were estimated and used in later analyses. Microsatellites showed high level of variability within populations (He = 0.68-0.77). Allele length distributions and average number of alleles per locus showed some traces of bottlenecks. Instead, comparison of observed genetic diversities and expected diversities suggested post-bottleneck expansion of populations. Genetic differentiation (FST and RST) among populations was over 10 %, reflecting situation in the isolated radiata pine populations. Using microsatellites and a newly developed Bayesian method, individual inbreeding coefficients were estimated in five populations of radiata pine. Most individuals were outbred while some were selfed. Presumably, in ancestral radiata pine populations the recessive deleterious alleles have been eliminated after bottlenecks and the mating system has changed as a consequence.

Submitted by HELSI MARIA ISIDRO CRISTOBAL null (helmar2009@live.com.mx) on 2017-10-25T12:25:09Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação_Helsi_final.pdf: 975344 bytes, checksum: bb2e31aa42ebcacbcd49b7790b75ac33 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Monique Sasaki (sayumi_sasaki@hotmail.com) on 2017-10-31T15:36:17Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 cristobal_hmi_me_jabo.pdf: 975344 bytes, checksum: bb2e31aa42ebcacbcd49b7790b75ac33 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-10-31T15:36:17Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 cristobal_hmi_me_jabo.pdf: 975344 bytes, checksum: bb2e31aa42ebcacbcd49b7790b75ac33 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-09-26 / Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACYT) / Os programas de melhoramento em espécies aquícolas apresentam, no geral, um número restrito de famílias e um pequeno tamanho efetivo populacional, levando ao acasalamento de animais aparentados e, consequentemente, ao aumento da endogamia. Por sua vez, maiores níveis de endogamia tendem a ocasionar queda no desempenho dos animais causada pela depressão endogâmica. O objetivo deste estudo foi estimar os níveis de endogamia e depressão endogâmica sobre as características de peso à despesca, comprimento à despesca e resistência a Piscirickettsia salmonis em uma população de salmão coho. A resistência a Piscirickettsia salmonis foi definida como o dia da morte de cada peixe após desafio conduzido em dois anos, com média de 42 dias em 2012 e 14 dias no ano de 2014. Foi utilizado um banco de dados composto por 53.504 observações, provenientes de nove gerações e 930 famílias. A estimação dos componentes de variância e endogamia foram obtidas utilizando o programa computacional AIREMLF90 e os valores de depressão endogâmica foram estimados a partir de um modelo animal. Os valores observados para o coeficiente de endogamia foram crescentes ao longo das gerações, com uma taxa média máxima de 8,75% no ano de 2014. A depressão endogâmica afetou em maior nível as características de peso à despesca e dia de morte, com redução de 6,4 e 9,2% no desempenho dos animais, respectivamente, para o nível máximo de endogamia observado (30%). Os resultados indicam a necessidade de uso de estratégias mais efetivas de controle da endogamia para a manutenção do progresso genético do programa de melhoramento de salmão coho. / Aquaculture breeding programs present, in general, low number of families and reduced effective population size, resulting in mating of related animals and, consequently, increased level of inbreeding. High inbreeding coefficient may negatively impact the animals’ performance due to inbreeding depression. The objective of this study was to estimate inbreeding coefficient and inbreeding depression on growth traits and resistance against Piscirickettsia salmonis in a coho salmon population. Resistance against P. salmonis was defined as days to death of each fish after being challenged in two different years, with an average of 42 days in 2012 and 14 days in 2014. Data of 53,504 animals from 930 families was analyzed. Variance components were estimated using the software AIREMLF90, and inbreeding depression was estimated under an animal model. An increasing rate of inbreeding was observed, attaining an average of 8.75% in 2014. Inbreeding depression was more pronounced for harvest weight (PD) and days to death (DM), in comparison with harvest length. At the highest observed inbreeding level (30%), the estimated reduction caused by inbreeding depression was equal to 6,4% for PD and 9,2% for DM. The results indicate the necessity to control inbreeding more effectively for the studied coho salmon population, to guarantee genetic progress in the long term. / CONACYT: 579741/410470