Abstract
A per-generation somatic mutation rate for microsatellites was estimated in western redcedar (Thuja plicata, Donn ex D. Don.: Cupressaceae). A total of 80 trees representative of the average size and age of reproductive trees were sampled in four natural populations in southwestern British Columbia. Samples of bulked haploid megagametophytes were collected from two or three positions on each tree, assuming that the collections were far enough apart that the same mutant sector was not sampled twice. All samples were genotyped at eight microsatellite loci. A single mutation corresponding to a stepwise increase in one dinucleotide repeat was detected. The estimated mutation rate for microsatellites was 6.3 x 10(-4) mutations per locus per generation (or 3.1 x 10(-4) per allele per generation), with a 95% confidence interval of 3.0 x 10(-5) to 4.0 x 10(-3) mutations per locus. Somatic mutations can contribute to a greater mutational load in trees, as compared to shorter lived plants, and genotypic mosaics within an individual have important implications for plant defense strategies and plant evolution.
Highlights
From Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service, Atlantic Forestry Centre, P.O
The mutation rate per locus per generation is estimated as U 1⁄4 m/NLK, where m is the number of mutations observed, N is the number of tissues sampled per tree, L is the number of trees sampled, and K is the number of loci sampled
After screening the material at eight microsatellite loci, we found a single new allele at locus TP9
Summary
From Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service, Atlantic Forestry Centre, P.O. A per-generation somatic mutation rate for microsatellites was estimated in western redcedar Somatic mutations can contribute to a greater mutational load in trees, as compared to shorter lived plants, and genotypic mosaics within an individual have important implications for plant defense strategies and plant evolution. Microsatellites, or simple sequence repeats (SSRs), offer a special opportunity to observe and study somatic mutations, because their rate of mutation is several orders of magnitude greater than that of other DNA markers (Ellegren 2000b). Western redcedar provides a good opportunity to detect and characterize new microsatellite mutations arising from somatic processes. We sampled haploid megagametophyte tissue in Thuja plicata to detect mutations in a long-lived plant.
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