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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Dawson, Georgia » National Peanut Research Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #363358
Research Project: Integration of Traditional Methods and Novel Molecular Strategies for Improving Disease Resistance and Input-use Efficiency in Peanut

Location: National Peanut Research Laboratory

Title: Microsatellite markers in Spanish lime (Melicoccus bijugatus Jacq., Sapindaceae), a neglected Neotropical fruit crop

Author
item MARTINEZ-CASTILLO, JAIME - Yucatan Center For Scientific Research
item Arias De Ares, Renee
item ANDUEZA-NOH, RUBEN - National Council Of Science And Technology (CONACYT)
item ORTIZ-GARCIA, MATILDE - Yucatan Center For Scientific Research
item Irish, Brian
item Scheffler, Brian

Submitted to: Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/30/2019
Publication Date: 8/8/2019
Citation: Martinez-Castillo, J., Arias De Ares, R.S., Andueza-Noh, R.H., Ortiz-Garcia, M.M., Irish, B.M., Scheffler, B.E. 2019. Microsatellite markers in Spanish lime (Melicoccus bijugatus Jacq., Sapindaceae), a neglected Neotropical fruit crop. Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution. 66(7):1371-1377. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10722-019-00815-4.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10722-019-00815-4

Interpretive Summary: The tropical-fruit-tree Spanish Lime (Melicoccus (M.) bijugatus) is not only a source of income for people in the tropics, but the genus Melicoccus in general has many species with medicinal and nutritional properties. Some of these species are in danger of becoming extinct, but without having molecular tools that can distinguish their genetic diversity, it is impossible to assure their preservation. In this work we developed 384 molecular markers for the species M. bijugatus that also worked in Melicoccus oliviformis, and probably will work on other species within the genus Melicoccus. The information will allow the proper curation in banks of germplasm, and the enrichment of those collections by identifying genetically diverse materials.

Technical Abstract: Spanish Lime (Melicoccus (M.) bijugatus Jacq.) is a perennial fruit species native to the Neotropics, and currently grown for its edible fruits in tropical regions around the world. The genus Melicoccus includes other nine species with edible fruits, some of these secies are at a serious risk of extinction. Like for the vast majority of tropical perennial fruit trees, there is no information on the genetic diversity of Spanish Lime and its related species, and this is mostly due to the lack of molecular markers. In this study, we performed high-throughput sequencing of microsatellite-enriched libraries of M. bijugatus using Roche 454, assembled 9,567 DNA contig sequences and identified 10,117 simple-sequence repeats (SSRs). After screening 384 of those SSRs on four DNA samples, thirty-one polymorphic markers were used to screen 25 accessions of M. bijugatus and five of M. oliviformis. Neighbor-Joining, 3D-PCoA and STRUCTURE analyses showed that a subset of the tested microsatellite markers clearly discriminated between the two Melicoccus species studied. Nine of the markers showed unique alleles for M. oliviformis, and some had significant hits on BLASTx analysis Overall, genetic diversity was low in M. bijugatus and similar for both sexes of this species. The set of microsatellite markers developed has a great potential to study population genetics of M. bijugatus and related species.