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Evolution and applications of pine microsatellites

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.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:oulo.fi/oai:oulu.fi:isbn951-42-5924-6
Date27 February 2001
CreatorsKarhu, A. (Auli)
PublisherUniversity of Oulu
Source SetsUniversity of Oulu
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
Typeinfo:eu-repo/semantics/doctoralThesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
Formatapplication/pdf
Rightsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess, © University of Oulu, 2001
Relationinfo:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/pissn/0355-3191, info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/eissn/1796-220X

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