Genetic diversity of scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) populations in Serbia revealed by SSR markers

Abstract

This paper presents the results of analysis of the genetic variability of seven Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) populations in Serbia using SSR markers. Genomic DNA was isolated from seed tissue of all seven populations. The concentration of DNA samples was within the range of 1-4 μg/ml. Different PCR protocols were used depending on the type of SSR markers. The total number of fragments obtained by SSR analysis with 4 selected primers was 17 (only bands of strong and medium intensity were considered), of which 6 fragments were polymorphic (35.29%). In order to analyze the genetic similarity of the analyzed populations, graphs of correspondence analysis and UPGMA clusters were produced. By comparative analysis of the obtained dendrograms, the dependence of population genetic differentiation and spatial distance was observed, i.e. their isolation by natural barriers. The results indicate that in further research of interpopulation variability it is necessary, when graphically interpreting genetic distances, to use both methods of statistical analysis (UPGMA analysis and correspondence analysis).