Abstract
Phelipanche ramosa is a parasitic plant that infects numerous crops worldwide. In Western Europe it recently expanded to a new host crop, oilseed rape, in which it can cause severe yield losses. We developed 13 microsatellite markers for P. ramosa using next-generation 454 sequencing data. The polymorphism at each locus was assessed in a sample of 96 individuals collected in France within 6 fields cultivated with tobacco, hemp or oilseed rape. Two loci were monomorphic. At the other 11 loci, the number of alleles and the expected heterozygosity ranged from 3 to 6 and from 0.31 to 0.60, respectively. Genetic diversity within each cultivated field was very low. The host crop from which individuals were collected was the key factor structuring genetic variation. Individuals collected on oilseed rape were strongly differentiated from individuals collected on hemp or tobacco, which suggests that P. ramosa infecting oilseed rape forms a genetically diverged race. The microsatellites we developed will be useful for population genetics studies and for elucidating host-associated genetic divergence in P. ramosa.
Highlights
IntroductionApproximately 3000 species (1%) are parasitic. These parasitic plants form a close connection with the vascular system of their host plant through a specialized organ, the haustorium, through which they remove water, mineral salts, and carbon elements [1,2]
Among flowering plants, approximately 3000 species (1%) are parasitic
We report the development and characterization of 13 microsatellites markers in the branched broomrape, Phelipanche ramosa
Summary
Approximately 3000 species (1%) are parasitic. These parasitic plants form a close connection with the vascular system of their host plant through a specialized organ, the haustorium, through which they remove water, mineral salts, and carbon elements [1,2]. In western France, a massive extension of P. ramosa to oilseed rape fields has been observed since the beginning of the 1990s [6,7], causing heavy yield losses This crop has become the primary host for the parasite, along with tobacco, hemp and buckwheat [5,8]. All previous studies used dominant markers, either RAPD [8,9], ISSR [5] or AFLP [10] Their results suggested the existence of two or three diverged genetic groups among populations of P. ramosa, which might be associated with host specificity. We report the development of microsatellite markers for P. ramosa and investigate whether these markers reveal some genetic divergence in relation with the host crop, and especially with the ability to infect oilseed rape
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