Cross-genera legume SSR markers for analysis of genetic diversity in Lens species

Abstract

With 1 figure and 1 table Abstract Transferability of microsatellite loci across species offers an opportunity, especially in Lens which suffers from lack of polymorphism and poor genome resources. Transferability of EST and genomic SSR markers from related taxa like Medicago truncatula (Mt), Pisum sativum (Ps) and Trifolium pratense (Tp), which are relatively well characterized genetically, was analyzed. The transferability of microsatellites as determined through successful amplification on six lentil accessions encompassing two subspecies was 36.0%, 62.0% and 25.0% for Mt, Tp and Ps-derived markers, respectively. A total of 22 Mt EST-SSRs produced 21.96% polymorphism, whereas, 98 BAC-SSRs produced marginally higher (24.14%) polymorphism. Twenty-two newly identified cross-species SSR markers and three lentil SSRs previously mapped on lentil genetic map, were used to infer the phylogenetic relationships among 40 accessions belonging to five Lens species (Lens culinaris ssp. culinaris, L. culinaris ssp. orientalis, L. culinaris ssp. odemensis, L. nigricans and L. ervoides). Total number of alleles detected across all microsatellite loci was 80, with a mean of 3.63 alleles per locus. UPGMA dendrogram divided them into six groups with wild subspecies L. nigricans and L. ervoides exhibiting maximum genetic distance, whereas high levels of intraspecific variation was observed among the accessions of L. orientalis, L. odemensis and L. nigricans. A close proximity (57.0%) between cultivated lentil and its supposedly wild progenitor L. culinaris ssp. orientalis was revealed. Our study has implications in large-scale development and identification of SSR markers from related genera which can be used for studying genetic diversity and construction of lentil genetic map and for tagging of various traits of agronomic importance for marker-assisted breeding.