Genetic diversity analysis of two Eucalyptus species using ISSR markers

Here, we deployed a genetic diversity analysis using ISSR markers in two Eucalyptus species, as a fundamental step toward breeding strategies. The selected species were Eucalyptus urophylla and Eucalyptus microcorys, both with economic potential in forestry. The studied individuals belong to a species and the provenance test that was installed in 1974 and until now remains exempt from silvicultural treatments. Nine universal ISSR primers were used in the analyses. Intra and interspecific variation through the polymorphism percentage, polymorphism information content (PIC) and Euclidean distances among individuals were computed. The Euclidean distance among the individuals was used to perform a principal coordinate analysis (PCoA), as well as the permutation analysis of multivariate dispersion (PermDisp), followed by the Tukey’s test. A high percentage of polymorphic bands were detected, with 57.14% for Eucalyptus microcorys and 80.95% for Eucalyptus urophylla. PIC values were higher than 0.5 for four primers (UBC827, UBC835, UBC841, and UBC842). The genetic variability was significantly higher within the Eucalyptus urophylla population than in Eucalyptus microcorys, which may be associated with the greater ability of Eucalyptus urophylla to naturally hybridize, therefore, enabling the introduction of new alleles to their populations.