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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Stoneville, Mississippi » Genomics and Bioinformatics Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #304121
Title: Development of microsatellites from Cornus mas L. (Cornaceae) and characterization of genetic diversity of cornelian cherries from China, central Europe, and the United States

Author
item WADL, PHILLIP - University Of Tennessee
item SZYP-BOROWSKA, IWONA - Forest Research Institute, Depart Of Silviculture And Genetics
item PIÓRECKI, NARCYZ - Arboretum And Institute Of Physigraphy, Przemysl
item SCHLARBAUM, SCOTT - University Of Tennessee
item Scheffler, Brian
item TRIGIANO, ROBERT - University Of Tennessee

Submitted to: Scientia Horticulturae
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/20/2014
Publication Date: 11/24/2014
Publication URL: https://handle.nal.usda.gov/10113/60671
Citation: Wadl, P.A., Szyp-Borowska, I., Piórecki, N., Schlarbaum, S.E., Scheffler, B.E., Trigiano, R.N. 2014. Development of microsatellites from Cornus mas L. (Cornaceae) and characterization of genetic diversity of cornelian cherries from China, central Europe, and the United States. Scientia Horticulturae. 179:314-320.

Interpretive Summary: Cornelian cherry (Cornus mas L.) is indigenous to central and southeastern Europe and is an ecologically and economically important shrub or small tree. The tree is very closely related to the American dogwood. The fruit of the tree is not a true cherry but is edible with many desirable medicinal characteristics. DNA markers were developed to help characterize the genetic diversity of the species especially in relation to geographical regions of the world. Basically there are two major genetic groups originating either from Group 1 (Austria, Poland or Ukraine) or Group 2 (Poland, Romania, and the United States). Careful analysis of the accessions and markers tested identified five DNA markers that can be used to distinguish all 30 tested accessions from one another. As many indigenous trees have been lost from European landscape, this will be a useful tool to quickly uncover new accessions to broaden the genetic base of modern breeding programs.

Technical Abstract: Cornelian cherry (Cornus mas L.) is indigenous to central and southeastern Europe and is an ecologically and economically important shrub or small tree. The aim of this study was to develop molecular tools for assessing genetic diversity and provide unique molecular identification of C. mas cultivars from central Europe and United States. A microsatellite-enriched library was used to develop nine polymorphic microsatellite loci. The loci amplified perfect and imperfect repeats with 2 to 11 alleles detected per locus. Observed heterozygosity ranged from 0.01 to 0.71 and expected heterozygosity ranged from 0.05 to 0.82. Additionally, cross species transfer to C. eydeana was observed. The multilocus allelic data was used to cluster 37 C. mas accessions and 1 C. eydeana accession based on the allele sharing distance matrix. The similarity coefficient ranged from 0.05 to 0.73 among all genotypes. All C. mas individuals clustered into two main clades, with the single C. eydeana accession used to root the dendrogram. All cultivars in group I belong to the botanical form Macrocarpa and originated from Austria, Poland, or Ukraine, whereas group II included individuals that originated from Poland, Romania, and the United States. Five loci (CM007, CM010, CM031, CM037, and CM043) were used to develop a molecular identification key that successfully delineated all individuals. The loci described in this study will facilitate further investigations of genetic diversity, gene flow, and genetic structure among populations of C. mas.