Data from: Characterization and high cross-species transferability of microsatellite markers from the floral transcriptome of Aspidistra saxicola (Asparagaceae)

Recent studies utilizing transcriptome sequences generated by next generation sequencing (NGS) technologies have demonstrated the ability to rapidly detect and characterize thousands of gene-based microsatellites from different plants. However, these simple sequence repeats (SSRs) were seldom used directly to test interspecific transferability in the populations of closely related species. Aspidistra Ker-Gawl. is a monocot genus with high species richness and diversity in flower structure but its fresh floral materials are not easy to obtain. Until now, little is known about genetic background in the species of Aspidistra, quite apart from the fearful reduction of their natural habitats. In this study, the floral transcriptome of Aspidistra saxicola was obtained by using NGS. Based on these data, a total of 5,527 SSRs were identified in the unigenes. Among these SSRs, the proportions of di- and tri-nucleotide repeats were quite close (49.6% verse 46.8%), and the most tri-nucleotide repeats were AGG/CCT followed by AAG/CTT and AGC/GCT in A. saxicola, showing distinct differences with other angiosperm species. To assess genetic diversity in the species of Aspidistra, 48 SSR loci were tested in four available populations of A. elatior. The results revealed that more than a third of the loci were polymorphic. The majority of these primers could be amplified in 24 species representing the main clades of Aspidistra. The primer subsets from transcriptome data proved highly useful for detecting polymorphisms in the related species, supporting the finding that NGS is an efficient approach to molecular marker development at both intra- and inter- species levels, especially in endangered non-model species.近年来，依托下一代测序（next generation sequencing, NGS）技术获取的转录组序列开展的相关研究，已实现从多种植物中快速检测并鉴定出数以千计的基因微卫星标记。然而，此类简单序列重复（simple sequence repeats, SSRs）标记极少被直接用于检验其在近缘物种种群中的种间转移性。蜘蛛抱蛋属（Aspidistra Ker-Gawl.）为单子叶植物属，物种丰富度高且花结构多样，但该属植物的新鲜花材较难获取。截至目前，除了其天然栖息地正大幅缩减这一现状外，学界对蜘蛛抱蛋属物种的遗传背景仍知之甚少。本研究通过NGS技术获取了石山蜘蛛抱蛋（Aspidistra saxicola）的花转录组。基于该转录组数据，研究人员在单基因簇（unigenes）中共鉴定出5527个SSRs标记。在这些SSRs中，二核苷酸重复与三核苷酸重复的占比十分接近（分别为49.6%与46.8%）；石山蜘蛛抱蛋中占比最高的三核苷酸重复基序为AGG/CCT，其次为AAG/CTT与AGC/GCT，这一特征与其他被子植物物种存在显著差异。为评估蜘蛛抱蛋属物种的遗传多样性，研究人员对4个已知的长柱蜘蛛抱蛋（Aspidistra elatior）种群开展了48个SSR位点的扩增检测。结果显示，超过三分之一的位点具有多态性。多数引物可在代表蜘蛛抱蛋属主要演化支的24个物种中完成扩增。本研究证实，基于转录组数据开发的引物组可有效检测近缘物种的多态性，这一结果印证了NGS是一种可在种内与种间层面高效开发分子标记的有效手段，尤其适用于濒危非模式物种。