Functional markers development and genetic diversity analysis in Eucalyptus globulus with emphasis in wood quality candidate genes

Eucalyptus globulus is the most planted hardwood species for pulpwood in temperate regions. Genomic researches in Eucalyptus have increased the information available in DNA sequences public databases and several structural and regulatory genes involved in the cellulose and lignin pathways are known. Functional genetic markers, while frequent in crop, are still scarce in forest species. Hence the detection and validation of SSRs in interesting genes to be used in future projects of marker-assisted breeding are needed. The present study aimed the development of novel functional markers (SSRs) in ESTs and wood quality candidate genes (CG) from Eucalyptus globulus ,a nd analyzes their potential for genetic diversity and individual identification studies. We report the design of SSR primers flanking simple sequence repeats in ESTs and CG, the validation of a subset of randomly selected EST-SSRs using eight E. globulus genotypes and the screening of a sample of 60 trees with the polymorphic SSRs. Also, SSRs cross-transferability was tested in seven Eucalyptus species coming from three sections: E. grandis, E. saligna (section Latoangulatae); E. globulus, E. dunnii, E. viminalis (section Maidenaria); and E. camaldulensis, E. tereticornis (section Exsertaria). Material and methods Plant material A total of 60 trees, each from a different OP family of E. globulus, were analyzed for their variability. These sixty trees represented major geographical races of the species’ natural distribution that were grown in a field trial in the Province of Buenos Aires, Argentina, between 1995 and 1997. For validation analyses one individual of each race (except Furneaux) was included. A total of 47 individuals from seven species (including E. globulus) of the genus were sampled for the transferability analyses. Methods