Microsatellite Markers%253A The Efficient Method for the Determination of Pollen Contamination in Conifer Seed Orchards

Seed orchards are specialized forest plantations of genetically superior candidate parents selected to produce genetically superior seeds and%252For seedlings. Pollen contamination is one of the most important factors affecting the yield, adaptation, and genetic quality of seeds produced from seed orchards in forest tree breeding programs. Potential pollen from forests surrounding the seed orchard is a major concern in tree breeding because it contributes to the loss in genetic gains expected from seed orchard crops. Microsatellite markers are among the most effective markers that are frequently used for creating genetic maps of many species, determining genetic diversity, identifying genetic diseases, population genetic studies, linkage analysis, fingerprint analysis, genotyping, and parental identification. In this study, a bibliometric analysis was performed to quantitatively and qualitatively evaluate the articles published in the last 25 years on seed orchards and pollen contamination. Searching the Web of Science (WOS) with the criteria of forest trees and seed orchards revealed that 820 articles were published in the last 25 years. It is seen that 77 of these articles are related to pollen contamination. Canada, China, Japan, Sweden, and the USA have been the top contributors to research on pollen contamination in seed orchards of forest trees in the last 25 years, respectively. According to the data obtained, it has been shown that the genetic contamination level of forest tree species in seed orchards is generally between 5%25 and 90%25. It has been determined that microsatellite markers are more widely used in recent years to determine the degree of pollen migration and genetic contamination. It was concluded that studies on pollen contamination were carried out in only two Turkish red pine orchards in Türkiye, which has a total of 189 seed orchards, the majority of which belong to conifers, and that similar studies should be planned in other seed orchards

Chloroplast DNA variation and pollen contamination in a Pinus brutia Ten. clonal seed orchard: implication for progeny performance in plantations

Pollen contamination is one of the important factors affecting the yield, adaptability, and genetic quality of the seed produced from seed orchards in forest tree breeding programs. Incoming pollen from the forests surrounding the seed orchard is a major concern in tree breeding because it contributes to losses in the expected genetic gains from seed orchard crops. The genetic variation and the level of pollen contamination in a 16-year-old Pinus brutia Ten. first-generation clonal seed orchard was studied using chloroplast microsatellite markers (cpSSRs). In total, 23 alleles and 36 unique allelic combinations (haplotypes) were detected based on the 6 cpSSR loci analyzed. The haplotypic diversity of the clones in the seed orchard was found to be 0.849. Out of 300 embryos analyzed, 87 were not compatible with any male parent within the seed orchard. Thus, 29% of the embryos were sired by pollen sources outside the orchard (i.e. apparent contamination). Microsatellite-based analysis revealed that the estimated contamination rate was 39.3%. Background pollination at this level will cause losses of 20% in the expected genetic gains. Our findings are valuable for the assessment of the intended seed orchard function, i.e. provision of genetically improved seed. It may be worthwhile to use pollen management strategies like strobilus stimulation, controlled pollination, and supplemental mass pollination to decrease pollen contamination and increase the genetic quality of the seeds produced.Akdeniz University Scientific Research Project UnitAkdeniz University [2008.03.0121.005]This study was supported by the Akdeniz University Scientific Research Projects Unit (Project No.: 2008.03.0121.005). We thank Dr Kani Isik (Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Akdeniz University, Antalya, Turkey) for valuable comments and critical reading of the manuscript. We are grateful to Dr John Frampton (North Carolina State University, NC, USA) and Dr Fikret Isik (North Carolina State University, NC, USA) for reviews and suggestions on the final version the manuscript. Dr Yusuf Kurt, Dr Esref Demir, Dr Ilker Cinbilgel, and Dr Sezgi Seref Gun helped during the field work in the seed orchard and the nearby natural stand. We gratefully acknowledge the contributions of all these persons and institutions

Genetic Comparison of Pinus brutia Ten. Populations from Different Elevations by RAPD Markers

Turkish Red Pine (Pinus brutia Ten.) is an important forest tree species in Turkey for various economic and ecological reasons. In this study, nine RAPD (Randomly Amplified Polymorphic DNA) primers were used to determine genetic variation within and among populations of P. brutia located at the Duzlercami common-garden test site. This site was established in 1979 and includes six natural populations of P. brutia from two altitudinal transects extending from the coast to higher elevations in the Antalya region of Turkey. A total of 32 polymorphic RAPD loci were found in the analyzed six populations. The mean proportion of polymorphic loci among population samples equals 100%, mean number of alleles for each locus = 2.0, effective allele number = 1.71, Shannon’s information index = 0.58, and mean Nei (1973)’s gene diversity value = 0.4. According to GST results, a high proportion of genetic diversity (95-99%) is found within populations. A relatively high genetic differentiation was found among altitudinal population pairs in both transect. Also, data on quantitative traits (total height and/or diameter) at different ages (13, 17, 30 years) were compared with molecular data. There are similarities between the results obtained from RAPD markers and those obtained from the quantitative traits. The differentiation in quantitative traits appears to be due to local adaptation of populations. Data suggest that priority should be given to the selection of material based on geographic origin along the altitudinal gradients of P. brutia populations to conserve the genetic resource of species

Assessment of the requisites of microbiology based infectious disease training under the pressure of consultation needs

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Training of infectious disease (ID) specialists is structured on classical clinical microbiology training in Turkey and ID specialists work as clinical microbiologists at the same time. Hence, this study aimed to determine the clinical skills and knowledge required by clinical microbiologists.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A cross-sectional study was carried out between June 1, 2010 and September 15, 2010 in 32 ID departments in Turkey. Only patients hospitalized and followed up in the ID departments between January-June 2010 who required consultation with other disciplines were included.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A total of 605 patients undergoing 1343 consultations were included, with pulmonology, neurology, cardiology, gastroenterology, nephrology, dermatology, haematology, and endocrinology being the most frequent consultation specialties. The consultation patterns were quite similar and were not affected by either the nature of infections or the critical clinical status of ID patients.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The results of our study show that certain internal medicine subdisciplines such as pulmonology, neurology and dermatology appear to be the principal clinical requisites in the training of ID specialists, rather than internal medicine as a whole.</p

Use of Nssr Markers for Determination of Clonal Identity and Genetic Structure in A Pinus Brutia Ten. Clonal Seed Orchard

Determination of clonal identity of seed orchard clones is required for the forest tree breeding programs, mating system and pollen contamination studies. Clonal identity and genetic structure in a Pinus brutia Ten. clonal seed orchard were analyzed by 5 nSSR loci (ITPH4516, FRPP94, PEST2669, NZPR544 and EPI3). Needles from 5 ramets per clone (totally 30 clones) were sampled from the seed orchard for microsatellite analysis. Considering the studied ramets of the P. brutia seed orchard clones, all the studied nSSR loci revealed polymorphism. nSSR analysis clearly indicate that the possible multigenotype number of the seed orchard clones (30) was 13 with 7 of these being unique. 39 out of 150 ramets (26%) did not completely match with the genotypes of their supposedly related clones. In 9 out of the 30 clones, all 5 ramets matched each other and in 10 out of the 30 clones, 1 of the 5 ramets did not match the other 4 ramets. This indicates these ramets were mis-lanted or mislabeled during and/or before planting in the orchard. We conclude that genetic identification of orchard ramets seems to be necessary before beginning mating system, pollen contamination studies and forest tree breeding programs.Akdeniz University, Scientific Research Projects UnitAkdeniz University [2008.03.0121.005]This study was supported by the Akdeniz University, Scientific Research Projects Unit (Project No.: 2008.03.0121.005). Anonymous reviewers provided valuable comments to improve the manuscript. We gratefully acknowledge the contributions of all these persons and institutions

Genetic Diversity Among Pinus Sylvestris L. Populations and Its Implications for Genetic Conservation: Comparison of Nuclear and Chloroplast Microsatellite Markers

Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) is one of the most widely distributed forest trees belonging to Pinaceae family in the world. The most southern distribution of its populations is located in Turkey. In this study, altitudinal genetic variation in P. sylvestris populations was determined via cpSSR and nSSR markers. Cones were gathered from 149 trees in five populations that represent five different elevational zones from sea level to 2250 meters in Turkey. A total of 32 alleles were determined for analyzed six cpSSR loci. The cpSSR alleles were formed 87 different haplotypes. The percentage of unique haplotypes was 65.52%. The results of AMOVA showed that the genetic diversity within populations was very high (99.8% for cpSSR and 98.3% for nSSR). Even though the studied populations are peripheral (the most southern ones in the distribution area of Scots pine), their genetic variation is still high. The results suggest that high priority should be given to peripheral populations for in situ conservation activities, as long as they have high genetic variation, because of their potential for adaptation to changing environments. The most suitable populations for forestry practices should be selected with strong emphasis on geographic location and elevation gradients.Akdeniz University Scientific Research Projects UnitAkdeniz University [2011.01.115.001]; Scientific and Technical Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK)Turkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Arastirma Kurumu (TUBITAK) [1120879]We would like to extent our gratitude to Akdeniz University Scientific Research Projects Unit (Project No: 2011.01.115.001) and The Scientific and Technical Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) (Project No: 1120879) for their financial support. We thank Prof. Dr. Kani Isik (Akdeniz University, Faculty of Science, Biology Department) for valuable comments and critical reading of the manuscript. We gratefully acknowledge Deniz Guney (Karadeniz Technical University, Faculty of Forestry) for providing seeds of the natural P. sylvestris populations. We also thank Emel Aydogdu (School of Foreign Languages, Akdeniz University) for improving the English of the manuscript