DEVELOPMENT AND CHARACTERIZATION OF 18 EST-SSR MARKERS IN SONNERATIA CASEOLARIS

Premise of the study: Sonneratia caseolaris, a typical mangrove species, is widely distributed in the Indo-West Pacific region. EST-SSR markers were developed for this species to examine its genetic diversity. Methods and Results: A total of 18 EST-SSR primer pairs were designed based on the transcriptome sequences of S. caseolaris. Thirteen primer pairs showed polymorphism with one to three alleles per locus when assessed in two populations from China and Australia. The observed heterozygosity and expected heterozygosity ranged from 0 to 0.5000, and 0 to 0.5217 in the Hainan population, and from 0 to 0.2500, and 0 to 0.4891 in the Queensland population, respectively. Thirteen of the 18 primer sets identified in S. caseolaris can be successfully applied to its congener S. alba, and a much lower level of polymorphisms was observed in this widespread species. Conclusions: These polymorphic EST-SSR markers for S. caseolaris are likely to be useful for future genetic diversity studies.