Division of Genetics and Tree Propagation, Forest Research Institute, Dehradun, India
*Corresponding author: kirtichamling@gmail.com (ORCID ID: 0000-0001-5241-4334)
Online published on 22 March, 2019.
De novo primer development is cost intensive and time-consuming, therefore using primers developed for other species on the target species is a more preferred alternative. In the present study, a total of 47 primer pairs from P. taeda, P. merkusii, P. resinosa and P. densiflora were used for trans-specific amplification of P. kesiya. It was observed that only 5 (10.6%) primer pairs out of 47 transferred in P. kesiya which may be due to the phylogenetic distance of the target species from the source species. The expected heterozygosity (HE) ranged from 0.490 to 0.603 with a mean of 0.540 and the observed heterozygosity (HO) ranged from 0.044 to 0.819 with a mean of 0.342. The study has shown that the nuclear SSR markers can be utilized for estimating the genetic structure of P. kesiya populations. Results of the present work will go a long way in implementing proper strategies for the better management and conservation of P. kesiya forests and initiating tree improvement programmes in this species.
Genetic diversity and variation was assessed using nuclear microsatellite markers in P. kesiya populations.
The transferability of nuclear SSRs was very low with only 10.6% transfer rate.
The populations showed moderate levels of genetic diversity.
Cross-species amplification, Genetic diversity, Microsatellite markers, Nuclear SSR, Pinus kesiya
