Highly informative SNP markers for routine individual identification and certification of forest reproductive material in Quercus ilex and Q. suber and their hybrids

Abstract

Holm oak (Quercus ilex L.) and cork oak (Q. suber L.) are two species of great ecological and socio-economical relevance in the Mediterranean western basin, mainly in the Iberian Peninsula. However, although breeding programs are in progress, basic materials providing qualified and tested Forest Reproductive Materials (FRM) are still lacking. In order to enable an accurate identification at the individual level, allowing the certification of selected material, efficient and affordable molecular markers are required.We report the identification of different sets of 96 and 500 single nucleotide polymorphism markers, selected in order to: I) allow the unambiguous identification at the individual level, both for holm oak and for cork oak and II) provide an accurate estimation of introgression level in hybrid individuals, at a low genotyping cost. These molecular tools fulfill the requirements for FRM certification, as well as for research and breeding purposes.