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Population genetic diversity contributes to the protection and utilization of germplasm resources, especially via genetic breeding. In the present study, start codon targeted polymorphism (SCoT) molecular markers were used to study the genetic diversity of 278 individuals from 10 Prunus sibirica L. populations in Inner Mongolia. A total of 289 polymorphic bands were amplified with 23 SCoT primers, showing a polymorphism percentage of 98.87% and an average of 12.6 polymorphic bands per primer. The SCoT21, SCoT32, and SCoT53 primers amplified up to 17 bands, and the polymorphism percentage was 100%. The minimum number of bands amplified by SCoT25 was 9, and the polymorphism percentage was 90%. Therefore, SCoT molecular markers were shown to be highly polymorphic and suitable for genetic diversity studies of P. sibirica in Inner Mongolia. The analysis of molecular variance showed that 39% of the observed genetic differentiation occurred among populations and 61% occurred within populations, indicating that the genetic differentiation within populations was greater than that among populations. The results of the unweighted pair-group method with an arithmetic cluster analysis, principal coordinate analysis and STRUCTURE analysis were basically the same and divided the 278 individuals from the 10 populations into 2 groups. The results indicated that the efficient SCoT molecular marker-based genetic diversity analysis of P. sibirica in Inner Mongolia can provide a reference for P. sibirica variety breeding and resource development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Picea mongolica, a native species with excellent industrial wood quality and strong sand-fixing capacity, may be utilized in construction of urban green spaces in arid areas in China. However, now the sustainability of the ecosystems where this species grows is at serious risk due to a lack of natural regeneration. In this study, we developed an efficient regeneration system and comprehensively analyzed various factors affecting somatic embryogenesis (SE) using zygotic embryos as explants. We identified the optimal plant growth regulators (PGRs) performance and the best donor trees (k81) for the generation of somatic embryos (SEMs). Additionally, we confirmed that the positive developmental window of SEMs initiation was at the end of July to early August, which is when zygotic embryos was at the late embryogeny. In this time period, specific transcripts associated with the regulation of epigenetic modifications, plant hormone-related genes, and embryonic development-related transcription factors play important roles for early SEMs initiation. These results may provide a valuable resource for vegetative propagation of Picea mongolica. Our results may help to establish a reliable protocol for plantlet regeneration, which may facilitate urban greening applications and industrialization in arid areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Armeniaca sibirica L. (Rosaceae) was once an economically important species in China, but the amount of natural germplasm of A. sibirica recently declined dramatically as a consequence of habitat fragmentation and overharvesting; this species has now been listed as endangered in the China Plant Red Data Book. In this study, 72 polymorphic single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers were developed in A. sibirica based on its transcriptome and characterized by genotyping 70 individuals using the SNaPshot method. The minor allele frequency varied from 0.102 to 0.516, and the observed heterozygosity, expected heterozygosity, and polymorphism information content ranged from 0.052 to 0.649, 0.186 to 0.617, and 0.105 to 0.452, respectively. Among these SNPs, seven loci deviated significantly from the Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium after Bonferroni correction (p < 0.05). These novel SNPs can be useful for future population and conservation genetics studies on this species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prunus mira, an important economic fruit crop and ancestral peach species, is widely distributed along the Yarlung Zangbo Grand Canyon and tributary basins in the Tibetan plateau. Due to infrastructure construction and deforestation, natural habitat of P. mira has been severely damaged, leading to reduction in its distribution range and population size and it is listed as a critically endangered species in China's list of National Key Protected Wild Plants. In this study, 85 novel single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers were developed based on restriction-site associated DNA sequencing. The minor allele frequency, observed heterozygosity, and expected heterozygosity ranged from 0.064 to 0.748, 0.086 to 0.846, and 0.126 to 0.562, respectively. The PIC ranged from 0.117 to 0.423. Ten loci showed significant deviations from the Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium after Bonferroni correction (p < 0.05). These novel SNPs can be useful for future population and conservation genetics studies on this species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]