Development and characterization of genic SSR markers in Medicago truncatula and their transferability in leguminous and non-leguminous species

Evaluation of oxidative stress, biochemical parameters and in silico markers in different pea accessions in response to drought stress

KEY MESSAGE

ARG6 and ARG10 pea accessions exhibited better tolerance to drought by keeping drought-associated attributes stable and higher, that is, stable chlorophyll content, high antioxidant activity, and the presence of polymorphic bands with stress-responsive EST-SSR markers. Each year, a significant portion of crops is lost due to various abiotic stresses, and even pea (Pisum sativum) crop growth and yield are severely affected by the challenges posed by drought stress. Drought is a critical factor that limits crop growth and development, and its impact is exacerbated by changes in the magnitude of climatic conditions. Drought induces oxidative stress in plants, leading to the accumulation of high concentrations of reactive oxygen species that damage cell structures and vital functioning of cells. The primary objective was to identify stress-tolerant plants by evaluating different morphological and biochemical attributes, such as biomass, chlorophyll content, relative water content, ascorbate peroxidase (APX), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and DPPH scavenging activity, as well as protein, proline, and phenolic content. Our study revealed that pea accessions (ARG6 and ARG10) were more resilient to drought stress as their chlorophyll, relative water, protein, and proline contents increased under drought conditions. Antioxidant enzymes, such as SOD, APX, and DPPH activities, also increased under drought stress in ARG10 and ARG6, suggesting that these accessions could bolster the antioxidant defense system in response to drought stress. Based on putative (cellular, biological, and metabolic) functions, ten EST-SSR primers were selected for the amplification study. Three EST-SSR primers, AUMP06_110, AUMP18_300, and AUMP31_250, were used for ARG6 and ARG10. Based on the correlation between the presence or absence of specific EST-SSR alleles, various physiological and morphological traits, and DPPH scavenging activity, both ARG10 and ARG6 demonstrated resistance to drought stress.

Transcriptome sequencing of medical herb Salvia Rosmarinus (Rosemary) revealed the phenylpropanoid biosynthesis pathway genes and their phylogenetic relationships

BACKGROUND

The Salvia rosmarinus spenn. (rosemary) is considered an economically important ornamental and medicinal plant and is widely utilized in culinary and for treating several diseases. However, the procedure behind synthesizing secondary metabolites-based bioactive compounds at the molecular level in S. rosmarinus is not explored completely.

METHODS AND RESULTS

We performed transcriptomic sequencing of the pooled sample from leaf and stem tissues on the Illumina HiSeqTM X10 platform. The transcriptomics analysis led to the generation of 29,523,608 raw reads, followed by data pre-processing which generated 23,208,592 clean reads, and de novo assembly of S. rosmarinus obtained 166,849 unigenes. Among them, nearly 75.1% of unigenes i.e., 28,757 were interpreted against a non-redundant protein database. The gene ontology-based annotation classified them into 3 main categories and 55 sub-categories, and clusters of orthologous genes annotation categorized them into 23 functional categories. The Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes database-based pathway analysis confirmed the involvement of 13,402 unigenes in 183 biochemical pathways, among these unigenes, 1,186 are involved in the 17 secondary metabolite production pathways. Several key enzymes involved in producing aromatic amino acids and phenylpropanoids were identified from the transcriptome database. Among the identified 48 families of transcription factors from coding unigenes, bHLH, MYB, WRKYs, NAC, C2H2, C3H, and ERF are involved in flavonoids and other secondary metabolites biosynthesis.

CONCLUSION

The phylogenetic analysis revealed the evolutionary relationship between the phenylpropanoid pathway genes of rosemary with other members of Lamiaceae. Our work reveals a new molecular mechanism behind the biosynthesis of phenylpropanoids and their regulation in rosemary plants.

Short Tandem Repeat (STR) DNA Analysis for Using Coffee Cups As Forensic Medicine Evidence

Introduction Forensic science has continually evolved, with innovations in DNA analysis techniques playing a pivotal role in improving the accuracy and reliability of criminal investigations. Short tandem repeats (STRs) have been a game-changer in forensic science, offering unique genetic markers to pinpoint individual identities. This study explores the application of STR DNA analysis to an unconventional source: coffee cups. Materials and methods In a study involving 16 unrelated, healthy individuals aged 26 to 32, DNA was investigated from coffee cups and mouth cavities, comparing the results to a previous coffee cup DNA study. Buccal swabs provided reference samples, air-dried for 10 minutes, and stored at 20°C. DNA quantification revealed a significant decrease in coffee cup samples (0.015 to 0.049 ng/μL) compared to the reference, with no DNA in negative controls. Some STR loci displayed inhibition and lower heterozygosity in the research samples. Ethical approval (REC 53-592) and adherence to the Declaration of Helsinki ensured ethical standards. This research highlights potential challenges in obtaining efficient DNA profiles from various sources. Results There was a significant variation in DNA concentrations among the different cup types, with ceramic cups yielding the highest concentrations. Moreover, the DNA profiling outcomes ranged from full profiles, which allow for precise individual identification, to partial profiles, which pose challenges for conclusive matches. These findings have profound implications for forensic science. The study demonstrates the potential of coffee cups as sources of DNA evidence in criminal investigations, even if partial profiles are obtained. Such evidence can assist in suspect identification, victim profiling, and corroborating witness statements. Conclusion This study highlights the application of STR DNA analysis for coffee cups, opening new avenues for forensic investigations and highlighting the need for continued research and development in this exciting field. This observation aligns with existing research on DNA recovery from various surfaces, and further research is warranted to refine the methodology, consider usage patterns, and address ethical and legal concerns regarding the collection and use of DNA evidence from common objects.

Comparative Transcriptome Analyses of Different Rheum officinale Tissues Reveal Differentially Expressed Genes Associated with Anthraquinone, Catechin, and Gallic Acid Biosynthesis

Rheum officinale Baill. is an important traditional Chinese medicinal herb, its dried roots and rhizomes being widely utilized to cure diverse diseases. However, previous studies mainly focused on the active compounds and their pharmacological effects, and the molecular mechanism underlying the biosynthesis of these ingredients in R. officinale is still elusive. Here, we performed comparative transcriptome analyses to elucidate the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in the root, stem, and leaf of R. officinale. A total of 236,031 unigenes with N50 of 769 bp was generated, 136,329 (57.76%) of which were annotated. A total of 5884 DEGs was identified after the comparative analyses of different tissues; 175 and 126 key enzyme genes with tissue-specific expression were found in the anthraquinone, catechin/gallic acid biosynthetic pathway, respectively, and some of these key enzyme genes were verified by qRT-PCR. The phylogeny of the PKS III family in Polygonaceae indicated that probably only PL_741 PKSIII1, PL_11549 PKSIII5, and PL_101745 PKSIII6 encoded PKSIII in the polyketide pathway. These results will shed light on the molecular basis of the tissue-specific accumulation and regulation of secondary metabolites in R. officinale, and lay a foundation for the future genetic diversity, molecular assisted breeding, and germplasm resource improvement of this essential medicinal plant.

Diagnostic accuracy of genetic markers for identification of the Lr46/Yr29 “slow rusting” locus in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)

Wheat leaf rust, caused by fungal pathogen Puccinia triticina Erikss, annually contributes to production losses as high as 40% in susceptible varieties and remains as one of the most damaging diseases of wheat worldwide. Currently, one of the major challenges of wheat geneticists and breeders is to accumulate major genes for durability of rust resistance called “slow rusting” genes using marker-assisted selection (MAS). Until now, eight genes (Lr34/Yr18, Lr46/Yr29, Lr67/Yr46, Lr68, Lr74, Lr75, Lr77, and Lr78) conferring resistance against multiple fungal pathogens have been identified in wheat gene pool and the molecular markers were developed for them. In MAS practice, it is a common problem that cultivars exhibiting desirable marker genotypes may not necessarily have the targeted genes or alleles and vice versa, which is known as “false positives.” The aim of this study was to compare the available four markers: Xwmc44, Xgwm259, Xbarc80, and csLV46G22 markers (not published yet), for the identification of the Lr46/Yr29 loci in 73 genotypes of wheat, which were reported as sources of various “slow rusting” genes, including 60 with confirmed Lr46/Yr29 gene, reported in the literature. This research revealed that csLV46G22 together with Xwmc44 is most suitable for the identification of resistance allele of the Lr46/Yr29 gene; however, there is a need to clone the Lr46/Yr29 loci to identify and verify the allelic variation of the gene and the function.

Genetic Diversity and Differentiation of Eleven Medicago Species from Campania Region Revealed by Nuclear and Chloroplast Microsatellites Markers

The species belonging to the genus Medicago are considered a very important genetic resource at global level both for planet’s food security and for sustainable rangelands management. The checklist of the Italian flora (2021) includes a total number of 40 Medicago species for Italy, and 27 for Campania region, with a number of doubtful records or related to species no more found in the wild. In this study, 10 Medicago species native to Campania region, and one archaeophyte (M. sativa), identified by means of morphological diagnostic characters, were analyzed in a blind test to assay the efficacy of nine microsatellite markers (five cp-SSRs and four n-SSRs). A total number of 33 individuals from 6 locations were sampled and genotyped. All markers were polymorphic, 40 alleles were obtained with n-SSRs ranging from 8–12 alleles per locus with an average of 10 alleles per marker, PIC values ranged from 0.672 to 0.847, and the most polymorphic SSR was MTIC 564. The cp-SSRs markers were highly polymorphic too; PIC values ranged from 0.644 to 0.891 with an average of 0.776, the most polymorphic cp-SSR was CCMP10. 56 alleles were obtained with cp-SSRs ranging from 7 to 17 alleles per locus with an average of 11. AMOVA analysis with n-SSR markers highlighted a great level of genetic differentiation among the 11 species, with a statistically significant fixation index (FST). UPGMA clustering and Bayesian-based population structure analysis assigned these 11 species to two main clusters, but the distribution of species within clusters was not the same for the two analyses. In conclusion, our results demonstrated that the combination of the used SSRs well distinguished the 11 Medicago species. Moreover, our results demonstrated that the use of a limited number of SSRs might be considered for further genetic studies on other Medicago species.

Cross-genera amplification of Cajanus spp. specific SSR markers in Clitoria ternatea (L.) and their application in genetic diversity studies

Clitoria ternatea (L.) is a medicinal leguminous plant and is cultivated to cater the need of herbal industries and asthetic purposes. The unavailability of steady molecular marker impedes the genetic improvement of C. ternatea. In the present study, transferability of 98 pairs of Cajanus spp. specific SSR primers were assessed among 14 genotypes of C. ternatea, varied for their flower color, floral architecture and bio-metabolite (taraxerol and delphinidin) content, and out of them 43 had successfully amplified the fragments. Among them, 36 pairs of primers showed 100% transferability, whereas rest seven varied from 42.86 to 92.85% transferability. The transferable 43 pairs of SSR primers generated 196 alleles across the 14 genotypes and the AMOVA analysis showed moderate genetic variation (55.1%) among the genotypes of C. ternatea, which was also reinforced by Nei's genetic distance and gene identity estimates derived haplotype matrix. Similarly, both the principal coordinate analysis and dendrogram grouped these 14 genotypes of C. ternatea into two major clusters based on SSR allele distribution and frequency, and the clustering pattern is in accordance with petal color but in contrast to floral architecture. MCheza based outlier analysis revealed 16 alleles for balancing selection, which are putatively involved in the maintenance of genetic polymorphism in C. ternatea. Moreover, the estimates of molecular diversity and bio-metabolite content revealed the possible use of these genotypes in future breeding programme of this species.

Genomic and transcriptomic sequencing of Rosa hybrida provides microsatellite markers for breeding, flower trait improvement and taxonomy studies

BACKGROUND

Rosa hybrida is a valuable ornamental, food and medicinal crop worldwide, but with relatively limited molecular marker resources, especially for flower-specific markers. In this study, we performed genomic and floral transcriptomic sequencing of modern rose. We obtained comprehensive nucleotide information, from which numerous potential simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers were identified but were found to have high rates of amplification failure and PCR product redundancy.

RESULTS

We applied a filtering strategy for BLAST analysis with the assembled genomic sequence and identified 124,591 genomic and 2,292 EST markers with unique annealing sites. These markers had much greater reliability than those obtained before filtering. Additional BLAST analysis against the transcriptomic sequences uncovered 5225 genomic SSRs associated with 4100 transcripts, 2138 of which were associated with functional genes that were annotated against the non-redundant database. More than 90% of these newly developed molecular markers were polymorphic, based on PCR using a subset of SSRs to analyze tetraploid modern rose accessions, diploid Rosa species and one strawberry accession. The relationships among Rosa species determined by cluster analysis (based on these results) were in agreement with modern rose breeding history, whereas strawberry was isolated in a separate cluster, as expected.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results provide valuable molecular-genetic tools for rose flower trait improvement, breeding and taxonomy. Importantly, we describe a reproducible organ-specific strategy for molecular marker development and selection in plants, which can be applied to other crops.

Mining and comparative survey of EST-SSR markers among members of Euphorbiaceae family

Euphorbiaceae represents flowering plants family of tropical and sub-tropical region rich in secondary metabolites of economic importance. To understand and assess the genetic makeup among the members, this study was undertaken to characterize and compare SSR markers from publicly available ESTs and GSSs of nine selected species of the family. Mining of SSRs was performed by MISA, primer designing by Primer3, while functional annotation, gene ontology (GO) and enrichment analysis were performed by Blast2GO. A total 12,878 number of SSRs were detected from 101,701 number of EST sequences. SSR density ranged from 1 SSR/3.22 kb to 1 SSR/15.65 kb. A total of 1873 primer pairs were designed for the annotated SSR-Contigs. About 77.07% SSR-ESTs could be assigned a significant match to the protein database. 3037 unique SSR-FDM were assigned and IPR003657 (WRKY Domain) was found to be the most dominant FDM among the members. 1810 unique GO terms obtained were further subjected to enrichment analysis to obtain 513 statistically significant GO terms mapped to the SSR containing ESTs. Most frequent enriched GO terms were, GO:0003824 for molecular function, GO:0006350 for biological process and GO:0005886 for cellular component, justifying the richness of defensive secondary metabolites and phytomedicine within the family. The results from this study provides tangible insight to genetic make-up and distribution of SSRs. Functional annotation corresponded many genes of unknown functions which may be considered as novel genes or genes responsible for stress specific secondary metabolites. Further studies are required to understand stress specific genes accountable for leveraging the synthesis of secondary metabolites.

Genome-Wide Development of MicroRNA-Based SSR Markers in Medicago truncatula with Their Transferability Analysis and Utilization in Related Legume Species

Microsatellite (simple sequence repeats, SSRs) marker is one of the most widely used markers in marker-assisted breeding. As one type of functional markers, MicroRNA-based SSR (miRNA-SSR) markers have been exploited mainly in animals, but the development and characterization of miRNA-SSR markers in plants are still limited. In the present study, miRNA-SSR markers for Medicago truncatula (M. truncatula) were developed and their cross-species transferability in six leguminous species was evaluated. A total of 169 primer pairs were successfully designed from 130 M. truncatula miRNA genes, the majority of which were mononucleotide repeats (70.41%), followed by dinucleotide repeats (14.20%), compound repeats (11.24%) and trinucleotide repeats (4.14%). Functional classification of SSR-containing miRNA genes showed that all targets could be grouped into three Gene Ontology (GO) categories: 17 in biological process, 11 in molecular function, and 14 in cellular component. The miRNA-SSR markers showed high transferability in other six leguminous species, ranged from 74.56% to 90.53%. Furthermore, 25 Mt-miRNA-SSR markers were used to evaluate polymorphisms in 20 alfalfa accessions, and the polymorphism information content (PIC) values ranged from 0.39 to 0.89 with an average of 0.71, the allele number per marker varied from 3 to 18 with an average of 7.88, indicating a high level of informativeness. The present study is the first time developed and characterized of M. truncatula miRNA-SSRs and demonstrated their utility in transferability, these novel markers will be valuable for genetic diversity analysis, marker-assisted selection and genotyping in leguminous species.

Development of SSR Markers Based on Transcriptome Sequencing and Association Analysis with Drought Tolerance in Perennial Grass Miscanthus from China

Drought has become a critical environmental stress affecting on plant in temperate area. As one of the promising bio-energy crops to sustainable biomass production, the genus Miscanthus has been widely studied around the world. However, the most widely used hybrid cultivar among this genus, Miscanthus × giganteus is proved poor drought tolerance compared to some parental species. Here we mainly focused on Miscanthus sinensis, which is one of the progenitors of M. × giganteus providing a comparable yield and well abiotic stress tolerance in some places. The main objectives were to characterize the physiological and photosynthetic respond to drought stress and to develop simple sequence repeats (SSRs) markers associated with drought tolerance by transcriptome sequencing within an originally collection of 44 Miscanthus genotypes from southwest China. Significant phenotypic differences were observed among genotypes, and the average of leaf relative water content (RWC) were severely affected by drought stress decreasing from 88.27 to 43.21%, which could well contribute to separating the drought resistant and drought sensitive genotype of Miscanthus. Furthermore, a total of 16,566 gene-associated SSRs markers were identified based on Illumina RNA sequencing under drought conditions, and 93 of them were randomly selected to validate. In total, 70 (75.3%) SSRs were successfully amplified and the generated loci from 30 polymorphic SSRs were used to estimate the genetic differentiation and population structure. Finally, two optimum subgroups of the population were determined by structure analysis and based on association analysis, seven significant associations were identified including two markers with leaf RWC and five markers with photosynthetic traits. With the rich sequencing resources annotation, such associations would serve an efficient tool for Miscanthus drought response mechanism study and facilitate genetic improvement of drought resistant for this species.

Genome size, cytogenetic data and transferability of EST-SSRs markers in wild and cultivated species of the genus Theobroma L. (Byttnerioideae, Malvaceae)

The genus Theobroma comprises several trees species native to the Amazon. Theobroma cacao L. plays a key economic role mainly in the chocolate industry. Both cultivated and wild forms are described within the genus. Variations in genome size and chromosome number have been used for prediction purposes including the frequency of interspecific hybridization or inference about evolutionary relationships. In this study, the nuclear DNA content, karyotype and genetic diversity using functional microsatellites (EST-SSR) of seven Theobroma species were characterized. The nuclear content of DNA for all analyzed Theobroma species was 1C = ~ 0.46 pg. These species presented 2n = 20 with small chromosomes and only one pair of terminal heterochromatic bands positively stained (CMA⁺/DAPI⁻ bands). The small size of Theobroma ssp. genomes was equivalent to other Byttnerioideae species, suggesting that the basal lineage of Malvaceae have smaller genomes and that there was an expansion of 2C values in the more specialized family clades. A set of 20 EST-SSR primers were characterized for related species of Theobroma, in which 12 loci were polymorphic. The polymorphism information content (PIC) ranged from 0.23 to 0.65, indicating a high level of information per locus. Combined results of flow cytometry, cytogenetic data and EST-SSRs markers will contribute to better describe the species and infer about the evolutionary relationships among Theobroma species. In addition, the importance of a core collection for conservation purposes is highlighted.

High-throughput development of simple sequence repeat markers for genetic diversity research in Crambe abyssinica

BACKGROUND

The allohexaploid Crambe abyssinica (crambe) is an oilseed crop that has been recognized for its potential value in the chemical industry, particularly in terms of producing high-erucic acid content vegetable oil. However, as an understudied crop, improvement of crambe has been hampered by the lack of genetic and genomic information to enhance its yield, oil quality and resistance against biotic and abiotic stress. Development of molecular markers is therefore of great significance to facilitate genetic improvement of crambe.

RESULTS

In this study, high-throughput sequencing was performed to generate sequences for the transcriptome and genome of a widely planted crambe cultivar, Galactica. A total of 186,778 expressed sequence tag (EST) contigs as 8,130,350 genomic contigs were assembled as well. Altogether, 82,523 pairs of primers were designed in the flanking sequences of the simple sequence repeat (SSR) within these contigs. Virtual PCR analysis showed that a fraction of these primers could be mapped onto the genomes of related species of Brassica, including Brassica rapa, B. oleraceae and B. napus. Genetic diversity analysis using a subset of 166 markers on 30 independent C. abyssinica accessions exhibited that 1) 95 % of the designed SSRs were polymorphic among these accessions; 2) the polymorphism information content (PIC) value of the markers ranged from 0.13 to 0.89; 3) the genetic distances (coefficient NEI72) between accessions varied from 0.06 to 0.36. Cluster analysis subsequent on the accessions demonstrated consistency with crambe breeding history. F-statistics analysis revealed a moderate level of genetic differentiation in C. abyssinica (Gst = 0.3934) and a accordingly low estimated gene flow (Nm = 0.7709).

CONCLUSION

Application of high-throughput sequencing technology has facilitated SSR marker development, which was successfully employed in evaluating genetic diversity of C. abyssinica as demonstrated in our study. Results showed these molecular markers were robust and provided powerful tools for assessing genetic diversity and estimating crambe breeding history. Moreover, the SSR primers and sequence information developed in the study are freely available to the research community.

Assessment of Functional EST-SSR Markers (Sugarcane) in Cross-Species Transferability, Genetic Diversity among Poaceae Plants, and Bulk Segregation Analysis

Expressed sequence tags (ESTs) are important resource for gene discovery, gene expression and its regulation, molecular marker development, and comparative genomics. We procured 10000 ESTs and analyzed 267 EST-SSRs markers through computational approach. The average density was one SSR/10.45 kb or 6.4% frequency, wherein trinucleotide repeats (66.74%) were the most abundant followed by di- (26.10%), tetra- (4.67%), penta- (1.5%), and hexanucleotide (1.2%) repeats. Functional annotations were done and after-effect newly developed 63 EST-SSRs were used for cross transferability, genetic diversity, and bulk segregation analysis (BSA). Out of 63 EST-SSRs, 42 markers were identified owing to their expansion genetics across 20 different plants which amplified 519 alleles at 180 loci with an average of 2.88 alleles/locus and the polymorphic information content (PIC) ranged from 0.51 to 0.93 with an average of 0.83. The cross transferability ranged from 25% for wheat to 97.22% for Schlerostachya, with an average of 55.86%, and genetic relationships were established based on diversification among them. Moreover, 10 EST-SSRs were recognized as important markers between bulks of pooled DNA of sugarcane cultivars through BSA. This study highlights the employability of the markers in transferability, genetic diversity in grass species, and distinguished sugarcane bulks.

De Novo Transcriptome Sequencing Analysis of cDNA Library and Large-Scale Unigene Assembly in Japanese Red Pine (Pinus densiflora)

Japanese red pine (Pinus densiflora) is extensively cultivated in Japan, Korea, China, and Russia and is harvested for timber, pulpwood, garden, and paper markets. However, genetic information and molecular markers were very scarce for this species. In this study, over 51 million sequencing clean reads from P. densiflora mRNA were produced using Illumina paired-end sequencing technology. It yielded 83,913 unigenes with a mean length of 751 bp, of which 54,530 (64.98%) unigenes showed similarity to sequences in the NCBI database. Among which the best matches in the NCBI Nr database were Picea sitchensis (41.60%), Amborella trichopoda (9.83%), and Pinus taeda (4.15%). A total of 1953 putative microsatellites were identified in 1784 unigenes using MISA (MicroSAtellite) software, of which the tri-nucleotide repeats were most abundant (50.18%) and 629 EST-SSR (expressed sequence tag- simple sequence repeats) primer pairs were successfully designed. Among 20 EST-SSR primer pairs randomly chosen, 17 markers yielded amplification products of the expected size in P. densiflora. Our results will provide a valuable resource for gene-function analysis, germplasm identification, molecular marker-assisted breeding and resistance-related gene(s) mapping for pine for P. densiflora.

Next Generation Sequencing and Transcriptome Analysis Predicts Biosynthetic Pathway of Sennosides from Senna (Cassia angustifolia Vahl.), a Non-Model Plant with Potent Laxative Properties

Senna (Cassia angustifolia Vahl.) is a world's natural laxative medicinal plant. Laxative properties are due to sennosides (anthraquinone glycosides) natural products. However, little genetic information is available for this species, especially concerning the biosynthetic pathways of sennosides. We present here the transcriptome sequencing of young and mature leaf tissue of Cassia angustifolia using Illumina MiSeq platform that resulted in a total of 6.34 Gb of raw nucleotide sequence. The sequence assembly resulted in 42230 and 37174 transcripts with an average length of 1119 bp and 1467 bp for young and mature leaf, respectively. The transcripts were annotated using NCBI BLAST with 'green plant database (txid 33090)', Swiss Prot, Kyoto Encylcopedia of Genes & Genomes (KEGG), Cluster of Orthologous Gene (COG) and Gene Ontology (GO). Out of the total transcripts, 40138 (95.0%) and 36349 (97.7%) from young and mature leaf, respectively, were annotated by BLASTX against green plant database of NCBI. We used InterProscan to see protein similarity at domain level, a total of 34031 (young leaf) and 32077 (mature leaf) transcripts were annotated against the Pfam domains. All transcripts from young and mature leaf were assigned to 191 KEGG pathways. There were 166 and 159 CDS, respectively, from young and mature leaf involved in metabolism of terpenoids and polyketides. Many CDS encoding enzymes leading to biosynthesis of sennosides were identified. A total of 10,763 CDS differentially expressing in both young and mature leaf libraries of which 2,343 (21.7%) CDS were up-regulated in young compared to mature leaf. Several differentially expressed genes found functionally associated with sennoside biosynthesis. CDS encoding for many CYPs and TF families were identified having probable roles in metabolism of primary as well as secondary metabolites. We developed SSR markers for molecular breeding of senna. We have identified a set of putative genes involved in various secondary metabolite pathways, especially those related to the synthesis of sennosides which will serve as an important platform for public information about gene expression, genomics, and functional genomics in senna.

De novo Assembly, Characterization of Immature Seed Transcriptome and Development of Genic-SSR Markers in Black Gram [Vigna mungo (L.) Hepper]

Black gram [V. mungo (L.) Hepper] is an important legume crop extensively grown in south and south-east Asia, where it is a major source of dietary protein for its predominantly vegetarian population. However, lack of genomic information and markers has become a limitation for genetic improvement of this crop. Here, we report the transcriptome sequencing of the immature seeds of black gram cv. TU94-2, by Illumina paired end sequencing technology to generate transcriptome sequences for gene discovery and genic-SSR marker development. A total of 17.2 million paired-end reads were generated and 48,291 transcript contigs (TCS) were assembled with an average length of 443 bp. Based on sequence similarity search, 33,766 TCS showed significant similarity to known proteins. Among these, only 29,564 TCS were annotated with gene ontology (GO) functional categories. A total number of 138 unique KEGG (Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes) pathways were identified, of which majority of TCS are grouped into purine metabolism (678) followed by pyrimidine metabolism (263). A total of 48,291 TCS were searched for SSRs and 1,840 SSRs were identified in 1,572 TCS with an average frequency of one SSR per 11.9 kb. The tri-nucleotide repeats were most abundant (35%) followed by di-nucleotide repeats (32%). PCR primer pairs were successfully designed for 933 SSR loci. Sequences analyses indicate that about 64.4% and 35.6% of the SSR motifs were present in the coding sequences (CDS) and untranslated regions (UTRs) respectively. Tri-nucleotide repeats (57.3%) were preferentially present in the CDS. The rate of successful amplification and polymorphism were investigated using selected primers among 18 black gram accessions. Genic-SSR markers developed from the Illumina paired end sequencing of black gram immature seed transcriptome will provide a valuable resource for genetic diversity, evolution, linkage mapping, comparative genomics and marker-assisted selection in black gram.

Development and Characterization of Transcription Factor Gene-Derived Microsatellite (TFGM) Markers in Medicago truncatula and Their Transferability in Leguminous and Non-Leguminous Species

Transcription factors (TFs) are critical adaptor molecules that regulate many plant processes by controlling gene expression. The recent increase in the availability of TF data has made TFs a valuable resource for genic functional microsatellite marker development. In the present study, we developed TF gene-derived microsatellite (TFGM) markers for Medicago truncatula and assessed their cross-species transferability. A total of 203 SSRs were identified from 1467 M. truncatula TF coding sequences, 87.68% of which were trinucleotide repeats, followed by mono- (4.93%) and hexanucleotide repeats (1.48%). Further, 142 TFGM markers showed a high level of transferability to the leguminous (55.63%-85.21%) and non-leguminous (28.17%-50.00%) species. Polymorphisms of 27 TFGM markers were evaluated in 44 alfalfa accessions. The allele number per marker ranged from two to eight with an average of 4.41, and the PIC values ranged from 0.08 to 0.84 with an average of 0.60. Considering the high polymorphism, these TFGM markers developed in our study will be valuable for genetic relationship assessments, marker-assisted selection and comparative genomic studies in leguminous and non-leguminous species.

Identification and characterization of microsatellites in expressed sequence tags and their cross transferability in different plants

Expressed sequence tags (EST) are potential source for the development of genic microsatellite markers, gene discovery, comparative genomics, and other genomic studies. In the present study, 7630 ESTs were examined from NCBI for SSR identification and characterization. A total of 263 SSRs were identified with an average density of one SSR/4.2 kb (3.4% frequency). Analysis revealed that trinucleotide repeats (47.52%) were most abundant followed by tetranucleotide (19.77%), dinucleotide (19.01%), pentanucleotide (9.12%), and hexanucleotide repeats (4.56%). Functional annotation was done through homology search and gene ontology, and 35 EST-SSRs were selected. Primer pairs were designed for evaluation of cross transferability and polymorphism among 11 plants belonging to five different families. Total 402 alleles were generated at 155 loci with an average of 2.6 alleles/locus and the polymorphic information content (PIC) ranged from 0.15 to 0.92 with an average of 0.75. The cross transferability ranged from 34.84% to 98.06% in different plants, with an average of 67.86%. Thus, the validation study of annotated 35 EST-SSR markers which correspond to particular metabolic activity revealed polymorphism and evolutionary nature in different families of Angiospermic plants.

Large scale in-silico identification and characterization of simple sequence repeats (SSRs) from de novo assembled transcriptome of Catharanthus roseus (L.) G. Don

Transcriptomic data of C. roseus offering ample sequence resources for providing better insights into gene diversity: large resource of genic SSR markers to accelerate genomic studies and breeding in Catharanthus . Next-generation sequencing is an efficient system for generating high-throughput complete transcripts/genes and developing molecular markers. We present here the transcriptome sequencing of a 26-day-old Catharanthus roseus seedling tissue using Illumina GAIIX platform that resulted in a total of 3.37 Gb of nucleotide sequence data comprising 29,964,104 reads which were de novo assembled into 26,581 unigenes. Based on similarity searches 58 % of the unigenes were annotated of which 13,580 unique transcripts were assigned 5016 gene ontology terms. Further, 7,687 of the unigenes were found to have Cluster of Orthologous Group classifications, and 4,006 were assigned to 289 Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genome pathways. Also, 5,221 (19.64 %) of transcripts were distributed to 81 known transcription factor (TF) families. In-silico analysis of the transcriptome resulted in identification of 11,004 SSRs in 26.62 % transcripts from which 2,520 SSR markers were designed which exhibited a non-random pattern of distribution. The most abundant was the trinucleotide repeats (AAG/CTT) followed by the dinucleotide repeats (AG/CT). Location specific analysis of SSRs revealed that SSRs were preferentially associated with the 5'-UTRs with a predicted role in regulation of gene expression. A PCR validation of a set of 48 primers revealed 97.9 % successful amplification, and 76.6 % of them showed polymorphism across different Catharanthus species as well as accessions of C. roseus. In summary, this study will provide an insight into understanding the seedling development and resources for novel gene discovery and SSR development for utilization in marker-assisted selective breeding in C. roseus.

Exploiting Illumina sequencing for the development of 95 novel polymorphic EST-SSR markers in common vetch (Vicia sativa subsp. sativa)

The common vetch (Vicia sativa subsp. sativa), a self-pollinating and diploid species, is one of the most important annual legumes in the world due to its short growth period, high nutritional value, and multiple usages as hay, grain, silage, and green manure. The available simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers for common vetch, however, are insufficient to meet the developing demand for genetic and molecular research on this important species. Here, we aimed to develop and characterise several polymorphic EST-SSR markers from the vetch Illumina transcriptome. A total number of 1,071 potential EST-SSR markers were identified from 1025 unigenes whose lengths were greater than 1,000 bp, and 450 primer pairs were then designed and synthesized. Finally, 95 polymorphic primer pairs were developed for the 10 common vetch accessions, which included 50 individuals. Among the 95 EST-SSR markers, the number of alleles ranged from three to 13, and the polymorphism information content values ranged from 0.09 to 0.98. The observed heterozygosity values ranged from 0.00 to 1.00, and the expected heterozygosity values ranged from 0.11 to 0.98. These 95 EST-SSR markers developed from the vetch Illumina transcriptome could greatly promote the development of genetic and molecular breeding studies pertaining to in this species.

Development and characterization of simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers based on RNA-sequencing of Medicago sativa and in silico mapping onto the M. truncatula genome

Sufficient codominant genetic markers are needed for various genetic investigations in alfalfa since the species is an outcrossing autotetraploid. With the newly developed next generation sequencing technology, a large amount of transcribed sequences of alfalfa have been generated and are available for identifying SSR markers by data mining. A total of 54,278 alfalfa non-redundant unigenes were assembled through the Illumina HiSeqTM 2000 sequencing technology. Based on 3,903 unigene sequences, 4,493 SSRs were identified. Tri-nucleotide repeats (56.71%) were the most abundant motif class while AG/CT (21.7%), AGG/CCT (19.8%), AAC/GTT (10.3%), ATC/ATG (8.8%), and ACC/GGT (6.3%) were the subsequent top five nucleotide repeat motifs. Eight hundred and thirty- seven EST-SSR primer pairs were successfully designed. Of these, 527 (63%) primer pairs yielded clear and scored PCR products and 372 (70.6%) exhibited polymorphisms. High transferability was observed for ssp falcata at 99.2% (523) and 71.7% (378) in M. truncatula. In addition, 313 of 527 SSR marker sequences were in silico mapped onto the eight M. truncatula chromosomes. Thirty-six polymorphic SSR primer pairs were used in the genetic relatedness analysis of 30 Chinese alfalfa cultivated accessions generating a total of 199 scored alleles. The mean observed heterozygosity and polymorphic information content were 0.767 and 0.635, respectively. The codominant markers not only enriched the current resources of molecular markers in alfalfa, but also would facilitate targeted investigations in marker-trait association, QTL mapping, and genetic diversity analysis in alfalfa.

Development of 5123 intron-length polymorphic markers for large-scale genotyping applications in foxtail millet

Generating genomic resources in terms of molecular markers is imperative in molecular breeding for crop improvement. Though development and application of microsatellite markers in large-scale was reported in the model crop foxtail millet, no such large-scale study was conducted for intron-length polymorphic (ILP) markers. Considering this, we developed 5123 ILP markers, of which 4049 were physically mapped onto 9 chromosomes of foxtail millet. BLAST analysis of 5123 expressed sequence tags (ESTs) suggested the function for ∼71.5% ESTs and grouped them into 5 different functional categories. About 440 selected primer pairs representing the foxtail millet genome and the different functional groups showed high-level of cross-genera amplification at an average of ∼85% in eight millets and five non-millet species. The efficacy of the ILP markers for distinguishing the foxtail millet is demonstrated by observed heterozygosity (0.20) and Nei's average gene diversity (0.22). In silico comparative mapping of physically mapped ILP markers demonstrated substantial percentage of sequence-based orthology and syntenic relationship between foxtail millet chromosomes and sorghum (∼50%), maize (∼46%), rice (∼21%) and Brachypodium (∼21%) chromosomes. Hence, for the first time, we developed large-scale ILP markers in foxtail millet and demonstrated their utility in germplasm characterization, transferability, phylogenetics and comparative mapping studies in millets and bioenergy grass species.

Development of eSSR-Markers in Setaria italica and Their Applicability in Studying Genetic Diversity, Cross-Transferability and Comparative Mapping in Millet and Non-Millet Species

Foxtail millet (Setariaitalica L.) is a tractable experimental model crop for studying functional genomics of millets and bioenergy grasses. But the limited availability of genomic resources, particularly expressed sequence-based genic markers is significantly impeding its genetic improvement. Considering this, we attempted to develop EST-derived-SSR (eSSR) markers and utilize them in germplasm characterization, cross-genera transferability and in silico comparative mapping. From 66,027 foxtail millet EST sequences 24,828 non-redundant ESTs were deduced, representing ~16 Mb, which revealed 534 (~2%) eSSRs in 495 SSR containing ESTs at a frequency of 1/30 kb. A total of 447 pp were successfully designed, of which 327 were mapped physically onto nine chromosomes. About 106 selected primer pairs representing the foxtail millet genome showed high-level of cross-genera amplification at an average of ~88% in eight millets and four non-millet species. Broad range of genetic diversity (0.02–0.65) obtained in constructed phylogenetic tree using 40 eSSR markers demonstrated its utility in germplasm characterizations and phylogenetics. Comparative mapping of physically mapped eSSR markers showed considerable proportion of sequence-based orthology and syntenic relationship between foxtail millet chromosomes and sorghum (~68%), maize (~61%) and rice (~42%) chromosomes. Synteny analysis of eSSRs of foxtail millet, rice, maize and sorghum suggested the nested chromosome fusion frequently observed in grass genomes. Thus, for the first time we had generated large-scale eSSR markers in foxtail millet and demonstrated their utility in germplasm characterization, transferability, phylogenetics and comparative mapping studies in millets and bioenergy grass species.

Development of simple sequence repeat markers and diversity analysis in alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.)

Efficient and robust molecular markers are essential for molecular breeding in plant. Compared to dominant and bi-allelic markers, multiple alleles of simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers are particularly informative and superior in genetic linkage map and QTL mapping in autotetraploid species like alfalfa. The objective of this study was to enrich SSR markers directly from alfalfa expressed sequence tags (ESTs). A total of 12,371 alfalfa ESTs were retrieved from the National Center for Biotechnology Information. Total 774 SSR-containing ESTs were identified from 716 ESTs. On average, one SSR was found per 7.7 kb of EST sequences. Tri-nucleotide repeats (48.8 %) was the most abundant motif type, followed by di-(26.1 %), tetra-(11.5 %), penta-(9.7 %), and hexanucleotide (3.9 %). One hundred EST-SSR primer pairs were successfully designed and 29 exhibited polymorphism among 28 alfalfa accessions. The allele number per marker ranged from two to 21 with an average of 6.8. The PIC values ranged from 0.195 to 0.896 with an average of 0.608, indicating a high level of polymorphism of the EST-SSR markers. Based on the 29 EST-SSR markers, assessment of genetic diversity was conducted and found that Medicago sativa ssp. sativa was clearly different from the other subspecies. The high transferability of those EST-SSR markers was also found for relative species.

Yellow lupin (Lupinus luteus L.) transcriptome sequencing: molecular marker development and comparative studies

Background

Yellow lupin (Lupinus luteus L.) is a minor legume crop characterized by its high seed protein content. Although grown in several temperate countries, its orphan condition has limited the generation of genomic tools to aid breeding efforts to improve yield and nutritional quality. In this study, we report the construction of 454-expresed sequence tag (EST) libraries, carried out comparative studies between L. luteus and model legume species, developed a comprehensive set of EST-simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers, and validated their utility on diversity studies and transferability to related species.

Results

Two runs of 454 pyrosequencing yielded 205 Mb and 530 Mb of sequence data for L1 (young leaves, buds and flowers) and L2 (immature seeds) EST- libraries. A combined assembly (L1L2) yielded 71,655 contigs with an average contig length of 632 nucleotides. L1L2 contigs were clustered into 55,309 isotigs. 38,200 isotigs translated into proteins and 8,741 of them were full length. Around 57% of L. luteus sequences had significant similarity with at least one sequence of Medicago, Lotus, Arabidopsis, or Glycine, and 40.17% showed positive matches with all of these species. L. luteus isotigs were also screened for the presence of SSR sequences. A total of 2,572 isotigs contained at least one EST-SSR, with a frequency of one SSR per 17.75 kbp. Empirical evaluation of the EST-SSR candidate markers resulted in 222 polymorphic EST-SSRs. Two hundred and fifty four (65.7%) and 113 (30%) SSR primer pairs were able to amplify fragments from L. hispanicus and L. mutabilis DNA, respectively. Fifty polymorphic EST-SSRs were used to genotype a sample of 64 L. luteus accessions. Neighbor-joining distance analysis detected the existence of several clusters among L. luteus accessions, strongly suggesting the existence of population subdivisions. However, no clear clustering patterns followed the accession’s origin.

Conclusion

L. luteus deep transcriptome sequencing will facilitate the further development of genomic tools and lupin germplasm. Massive sequencing of cDNA libraries will continue to produce raw materials for gene discovery, identification of polymorphisms (SNPs, EST-SSRs, INDELs, etc.) for marker development, anchoring sequences for genome comparisons and putative gene candidates for QTL detection.

Simple sequence repeat marker development from bacterial artificial chromosome end sequences and expressed sequence tags of flax (Linum usitatissimum L.)

Flax is an important oilseed crop in North America and is mostly grown as a fibre crop in Europe. As a self-pollinated diploid with a small estimated genome size of ~370 Mb, flax is well suited for fast progress in genomics. In the last few years, important genetic resources have been developed for this crop. Here, we describe the assessment and comparative analyses of 1,506 putative simple sequence repeats (SSRs) of which, 1,164 were derived from BAC-end sequences (BESs) and 342 from expressed sequence tags (ESTs). The SSRs were assessed on a panel of 16 flax accessions with 673 (58 %) and 145 (42 %) primer pairs being polymorphic in the BESs and ESTs, respectively. With 818 novel polymorphic SSR primer pairs reported in this study, the repertoire of available SSRs in flax has more than doubled from the combined total of 508 of all previous reports. Among nucleotide motifs, trinucleotides were the most abundant irrespective of the class, but dinucleotides were the most polymorphic. SSR length was also positively correlated with polymorphism. Two dinucleotide (AT/TA and AG/GA) and two trinucleotide (AAT/ATA/TAA and GAA/AGA/AAG) motifs and their iterations, different from those reported in many other crops, accounted for more than half of all the SSRs and were also more polymorphic (63.4 %) than the rest of the markers (42.7 %). This improved resource promises to be useful in genetic, quantitative trait loci (QTL) and association mapping as well as for anchoring the physical/genetic map with the whole genome shotgun reference sequence of flax.

Exploring the genetic diversity of Ethiopian grass pea (Lathyrus sativus L.) using EST-SSR markers

Expressed sequence tags (ESTs) in public databases and cross-species transferable markers are considered to be a cost-effective means for developing sequence-based markers for less-studied species. In this study, EST-simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers developed from Lathyrus sativus L. EST sequences and cross-transferable EST-SSRs derived from Medicago truncatula L. were utilized to investigate the genetic diversity among grass pea populations from Ethiopia. A total of 45 alleles were detected using eleven EST-SSRs with an average of four alleles per locus. The average polymorphism information content for all primers was 0.416. The average gene diversity was 0.477, ranging from 0.205 for marker Ls942 to 0.804 for MtBA32F05. F(ST) values estimated by analysis of molecular variance were 0.01, 0.15, and 0.84 for among regions, among accessions and within accessions respectively, indicating that most of the variation (84%) resides within accessions. Model-based cluster analysis grouped the accessions into three clusters, grouping accessions irrespective of their collection regions. Among the regions, high levels of diversity were observed in Gojam, Gonder, Shewa and Welo regions, with Gonder region showing a higher number of different alleles. From breeding and conservation aspects, conducting a close study on a specific population would be advisable for genetic improvement in the crop, and it would be appropriate if future collection and conservation plans give due attention to under-represented regions. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s11032-011-9662-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Sequence-based novel genomic microsatellite markers for robust genotyping purposes in foxtail millet [Setaria italica (L.) P. Beauv]

The unavailability of microsatellite markers and saturated genetic linkage map has restricted the genetic improvement of foxtail millet [Setaria italica (L.) P. Beauv.], despite the fact that in recent times it has been documented as a new model species for biofuel grasses. With the objective to generate a good number of microsatellite markers in foxtail millet cultivar 'Prasad', 690 clones were sequenced which generated 112.95 kb high quality sequences obtained from three genomic libraries each enriched with different microsatellite repeat motifs. Microsatellites were identified in 512 (74.2%) of the 690 positive clones and 172 primer pairs (pp) were successfully designed from 249 (48.6%) unique SSR-containing clones. The efficacies of the microsatellite containing genomic sequences were established by superior primer designing ability (69%), PCR amplification efficiency (85.5%) and polymorphic potential (52%) in the parents of F(2) mapping population. Out of 172 pp, functional 147 markers showed high level of cross-species amplification (~74%) in six grass species. Higher polymorphism rate and broad range of genetic diversity (0.30-0.69 averaging 0.58) obtained in constructed phylogenetic tree using 52 microsatellite markers, demonstrated the utility of markers in germplasm characterizations. In silico comparative mapping of 147 foxtail millet microsatellite containing sequences against the mapping data of sorghum (~18%), maize (~16%) and rice (~5%) indicated the presence of orthologous sequences of the foxtail millet in the respective species. The result thus demonstrates the applicability of microsatellite markers in various genotyping applications, determining phylogenetic relationships and comparative mapping in several important grass species.

Development and characterization of microsatellite markers from tropical forage Stylosanthes species and analysis of genetic variability and cross-species transferability

A limited number of functional molecular markers has slowed the desired genetic improvement of Stylosanthes species. Hence, in an attempt to develop simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers, genomic libraries from Stylosanthes seabrana B.L. Maass & 't Mannetje (2n=2x=20) using 5' anchored degenerate microsatellite primers were constructed. Of the 76 new microsatellites, 21 functional primer pairs were designed. Because of the small number of primer pairs designed, 428 expressed sequence tag (EST) sequences from seven Stylosanthes species were also examined for SSR detection. Approximately 10% of sequences delivered functional primer pairs, and after redundancy elimination, 57 microsatellite repeats were selected. Tetranucleotides followed by trinucleotides were the major repeated sequences in Stylosanthes ESTs. In total, a robust set of 21 genomic-SSR (gSSR) and 20 EST-SSR (eSSR) markers were developed. These markers were analyzed for intraspecific diversity within 20 S. seabrana accessions and for their cross-species transferability. Mean expected (He) and observed (Ho) heterozygosity values with gSSR markers were 0.64 and 0.372, respectively, whereas with eSSR markers these were 0.297 and 0.214, respectively. Dendrograms having moderate bootstrap value (23%-94%) were able to distinguish all accessions of S. seabrana with gSSR markers, whereas eSSR markers showed 100% similarities between few accessions. The set of 21 gSSRs, from S. seabrana, and 20 eSSRs, from selected Stylosanthes species, with their high cross-species transferability (45% with gSSRs, 86% with eSSRs) will facilitate genetic improvement of Stylosanthes species globally.

In silico mining for simple sequence repeat loci in a pineapple expressed sequence tag database and cross-species amplification of EST-SSR markers across Bromeliaceae

A collection of 5,659 expressed sequence tags (ESTs) from pineapple [Ananas comosus (L.) Merr.] was screened for simple sequence repeats (EST-SSRs) with motif lengths between 1 and 6 bp. Lower thresholds of 15, 7 and 5 repeat units were used to define microsatellites of the mono-, di-, and tri- to hexanucleotide repeat type, respectively. Based on these criteria, 696 SSRs were identified among 3,389 EST unigenes, together representing 2,840 kb. This corresponds to an average density of one SSR every 4.1 kb of non-redundant EST sequences. Dinucleotide repeats were most abundant (38.4% of all SSRs) followed by trinucleotide repeats (38.1%). Flanking primer pairs were designed for 537 EST-SSR loci, and 49 of these were screened for their functionality in 12 accessions of A. comosus, 14 accessions of 5 additional Ananas species and 1 species of Pseudananas. Distinct PCR products of the expected size range were obtained with 36 primer pairs. Eighteen loci analyzed in more detail were all polymorphic in pineapple, and primer pairs flanking these loci also generated PCR products from a wide range of genera and species from six subfamilies of the Bromeliaceae. The potential to reveal polymorphism in a heterologous target species was demonstrated in Deuterocohnia brevifolia (subfamily Pitcairnioideae).

Development and utilization of novel intron length polymorphic markers in foxtail millet (Setaria italica (L.) P. Beauv.)

Introns are noncoding sequences in a gene that are transcribed to precursor mRNA but spliced out during mRNA maturation and are abundant in eukaryotic genomes. The availability of codominant molecular markers and saturated genetic linkage maps have been limited in foxtail millet (Setaria italica (L.) P. Beauv.). Here, we describe the development of 98 novel intron length polymorphic (ILP) markers in foxtail millet using sequence information of the model plant rice. A total of 575 nonredundant expressed sequence tag (EST) sequences were obtained, of which 327 and 248 unique sequences were from dehydration- and salinity-stressed suppression subtractive hybridization libraries, respectively. The BLAST analysis of 98 EST sequences suggests a nearly defined function for about 64% of them, and they were grouped into 11 different functional categories. All 98 ILP primer pairs showed a high level of cross-species amplification in two millets and two nonmillets species ranging from 90% to 100%, with a mean of ∼97%. The mean observed heterozygosity and Nei's average gene diversity 0.016 and 0.171, respectively, established the efficiency of the ILP markers for distinguishing the foxtail millet accessions. Based on 26 ILP markers, a reasonable dendrogram of 45 foxtail millet accessions was constructed, demonstrating the utility of ILP markers in germplasm characterizations and genomic relationships in millets and nonmillets species.

In silico mining and characterization of simple sequence repeats from gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata) expressed sequence tags (EST-SSRs); PCR amplification, polymorphism evaluation and multiplexing and cross-species assays

We screened for simple sequence repeats (SSRs) found in ESTs derived from an EST-database development project ('Marine Genomics Europe' Network of Excellence). Different motifs of di-, tri-, tetra-, penta- and hexanucleotide SSRs were evaluated for variation in length and position in the expressed sequences, relative abundance and distribution in gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata). We found 899 ESTs that harbor 997 SSRs (4.94%). On average, one SSR was found per 2.95 kb of EST sequence and the dinucleotide SSRs are the most abundant accounting for 47.6% of the total number. EST-SSRs were used as template for primer design. 664 primer pairs could be successfully identified and a subset of 206 pairs of primers was synthesized, PCR-tested and visualized on ethidium bromide stained agarose gels. The main objective was to further assess the potential of EST-SSRs as informative markers and investigate their cross-species amplification in sixteen teleost fish species: seven sparid species and nine other species from different families. Approximately 78% of the primer pairs gave PCR products of expected size in gilthead sea bream, and as expected, the rate of successful amplification of sea bream EST-SSRs was higher in sparids, lower in other perciforms and even lower in species of the Clupeiform and Gadiform orders. We finally determined the polymorphism and the heterozygosity of 63 markers in a wild gilthead sea bream population; fifty-eight loci were found to be polymorphic with the expected heterozygosity and the number of alleles ranging from 0.089 to 0.946 and from 2 to 27, respectively. These tools and markers are expected to enhance the available genetic linkage map in gilthead sea bream, to assist comparative mapping and genome analyses for this species and further with other model fish species and finally to help advance genetic analysis for cultivated and wild populations and accelerate breeding programs.

Variability in Indian bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) varieties differing in nitrogen efficiency as assessed by microsatellite markers

Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is a staple food for half of the world. Its productivity and agronomical practices, especially for nitrogen supplementation, is governed by the nitrogen efficiency (NE) of the genotypes. We analyzed 16 popular cultivated Indian varieties of wheat for their NE and variability estimates using a set of 21 simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers, derived from each wheat chromosome. These genotypes were categorized into three groups, viz., low, moderate, and high nitrogen efficient. Of these 16 genotypes, we have reported six, eight, and two genotypes in high, moderate, and low NE categories, respectively. The differential NE in these genotypes was supported by nitrogen uptake and assimilation parameters. The values of average polymorphic information content and marker index for these SSR markers were estimated to be 0.32 and 0.59, respectively. The genetic similarity coefficient for all possible pairs of varieties ranged from 0.41 to 0.76, indicating the presence of considerable range of genetic diversity at molecular level. The dendrogram prepared on the basis of unweighted pair-group method of arithmetic average algorithm grouped the 16 wheat varieties into three major clusters. The clustering was strongly supported by high bootstrap values. The distribution of the varieties in different clusters and subclusters appeared to be related to their variability in NE parameter that was scored. Genetically diverse parents were identified that could potentially be used for their desirable characteristics in breeding programs for improvement of NE in wheat.