Development of nuclear microsatellite markers for the Japanese conifers Tsuga diversifolia and T. sieboldii (Pinaceae)

Nuclear microsatellite markers were developed for the two Tsuga species native to the Japanese Archipelago, Tsuga diversifolia and T. sieboldii, and a population with genetic affinities to T. diversifolia on Ulleung Island, Korea. Tsuga diversifolia and T. sieboldii are widespread dominant trees of temperate and subalpine forests in Japan but to date no genetic markers have been developed for these species. Fifteen polymorphic loci were developed and characterized, of which 14 are reliably amplified in each taxon. Across both species and the Ulleung Island population, the number of alleles per locus ranged from 3 to 26 (average = 13.93) and observed heterozygosity ranged from 0.005 to 0.935 (average = 0.535). In addition, all 15 loci were successfully amplified in a single accession of the Chinese species, T. chinensis. These markers will be useful for investigating the species’ biogeography, range-wide genetic diversity, conservation genetic issues and potential for hybridisation.

本研究针对日本群岛原生的两种铁杉属（Tsuga）物种——日本铁杉（Tsuga diversifolia）与锡尔伯铁杉（Tsuga sieboldii，缩写为T. sieboldii），以及韩国郁陵岛上与日本铁杉具有遗传亲缘关系的种群，开发了核微卫星标记（nuclear microsatellite markers）。日本铁杉与锡尔伯铁杉是日本温带及亚高山森林中广泛分布的优势树种，但迄今为止尚未有针对这两个物种开发的专用遗传标记。本研究共开发并鉴定了15个多态性位点（polymorphic loci），其中14个可在每个类群中稳定扩增。在两个目标物种及郁陵岛种群中，每个位点的等位基因数范围为3至26（平均值为13.93），观测杂合度（observed heterozygosity）范围为0.005至0.935（平均值为0.535）。此外，本研究在中国物种铁杉（Tsuga chinensis，缩写为T. chinensis）的单份种质材料中成功扩增出全部15个位点。该套标记可用于研究该类群的生物地理学特征、分布区范围内的遗传多样性、保护遗传学相关问题以及杂交潜力。