Genetic  diversity of Lagerstroemia (Lythraceae) species assessed by simple  sequence repeat markers.
Lagerstroemia (crape myrtle) are famous ornamental plants with large pyramidal  racemes, long flower duration, and diverse colors. However, little is known  about the genetic structure and diversity of germplasm in Lagerstroemia.  We genotyped 81 L. indica cultivars, five other species of Lagerstroemia,  and 10 interspecific hybrids using 30 simple sequence repeat markers; 275  alleles were generated with a mean of nine alleles per locus. The mean  polymorphism information content value, a measure of gene diversity, was 0.63,  with a range from 0.25 to 0.86. The mean observed heterozygosity (0.51) tended  to be lower than the mean expected heterozygosity (0.67). The mean F-statistics  (F(ST), F(IS), and F(IT)) were 0.05, 0.20, and 0.24,  respectively, indicating a high level of genetic variation among cultivars.  Clustering analysis based on genetic distance divided the 96 genotypes into  three distinct groups, which corresponded with their genetic backgrounds and  geographic regions. L. indica cultivars and the other five L. species  were grouped into different sub-clusters. Chinese and North American cultivars  were divided into different clusters. These data about the genetic relationship  among cultivars demonstrated the potential value of L. indica cultivars  and other Lagerstroemia species for widening the genetic basis of  breeding programs for this ornamental flower.
Department of Ornamental Horticulture, College of Landscape Architecture, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, China.
D
D
He
Y
Y
Liu
M
M
Cai
H T
HT
Pan
Q X
QX
Zhang
X Y
XY
Wang
X J
XJ
Wang
D000483:Alleles; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D056426:Genetic Loci / Q000235:genetics; D005819:Genetic Markers; D014644:Genetic Variation; D031563:Lagerstroemia / Q000235:genetics*; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats / Q000235:genetics*; D013045:Species Specificity
D005819:Genetic Markers