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. 2015 Mar 15;8:83. doi: 10.1186/s13104-015-1044-9

Microsatellite markers for Urochloa humidicola (Poaceae) and their transferability to other Urochloa species

Jean CS Santos 1, Mariana A Barreto 1, Fernanda A Oliveira 1, Bianca BZ Vigna 2, Anete P Souza 1,3,
PMCID: PMC4365966  PMID: 25889143

Abstract

Background

Urochloa humidicola is a warm-season grass commonly used as forage in the tropics and is recognized for its tolerance to seasonal flooding. This grass is an important forage species for the Cerrado and Amazon regions of Brazil. U. humidicola is a polyploid species with variable ploidy (6X–9X) and facultative apomixis with high phenotypic plasticity. However, this apomixis and ploidy, as well as the limited knowledge of the genetic basis of the germplasm collection, have constrained genetic breeding activities, yet microsatellite markers may enable a better understanding of the species’ genetic composition. This study aimed to develop and characterize new polymorphic microsatellite molecular markers in U. humidicola and to evaluate their transferability to other Urochloa species.

Findings

A set of microsatellite markers for U. humidicola was identified from two new enriched genomic DNA libraries: the first library was constructed from a single sexual genotype and the second from a pool of eight apomictic genotypes selected on the basis of previous results. Of the 114 loci developed, 72 primer pairs presented a good amplification product, and 64 were polymorphic among the 34 genotypes tested. The number of bands per simple sequence repeat (SSR) locus ranged from 1 to 29, with a mean of 9.6 bands per locus. The mean polymorphism information content (PIC) of all loci was 0.77, and the mean discrimination power (DP) was 0.87. STRUCTURE analysis revealed differences among U. humidicola accessions, hybrids, and other Urochloa accessions. The transferability of these microsatellites was evaluated in four species of the genus, U. brizantha, U. decumbens, U. ruziziensis, and U. dictyoneura, and the percentage of transferability ranged from 58.33% to 69.44% depending on the species.

Conclusions

This work reports new polymorphic microsatellite markers for U. humidicola that can be used for breeding programs of this and other Urochloa species, including genetic linkage mapping, quantitative trait loci identification, and marker-assisted selection.

Keywords: Microsatellite, Genomic library, SSR transferability, Forage, Grass

Findings

Background

Urochloa humidicola (Rendle) Morrone & Zuloaga (syn. Brachiaria humidicola (Rendle) Schweick.), commonly known as koronivia grass, is a perennial tropical grass native to eastern Africa that was introduced to Brazil in the 1950s [1,2]. U. humidicola is an apomictic polyploid species with variable levels of ploidy (6X–9X) [3-7].

In Brazil, the grasses of the genus Urochloa occupy 85% of the cultivated pasture areas [8]. U. humidicola is cultivated as forage in several tropical regions worldwide and is particularly recognized for its tolerance to poorly draining soils, seasonal flooding, and infertile acidic soils [9]. For this reason, this species has been largely exploited in the tropics as a forage option over other Urochloa grasses, mostly in the African savannas and similar environments, such as the Brazilian Cerrado [7].

The development and adoption of new U. humidicola cultivars with a broad genetic base are crucial for the diversification of forage pastures in the tropics, primarily because there are few cultivars of this species in Brazil (Tully, Llanero, and BRS Tupi). However, the development of new cultivars must be a dynamic process, providing cultivars with high nutritional value, increased biotic and abiotic resistance, and economic competitiveness.

Molecular markers are important tools to the progress of breeding programs, and their utilization would favor a more dynamic development of new cultivars of this species. However, there is a lack of information about the U. humidicola genome. Indeed, little or nothing is known about the number of genes, distribution of gene families, abundance and diversity of retro-elements, QTL localization of traits of economic importance, genome colinearity with model species, or abundance of repetitive sequences. Molecular markers are widely used in the fingerprinting of cultivars, the detection of genetic diversity in evaluating population structure in the mapping genes of interest, and in the selection of elite genotypes in breeding programs. SSR markers, in particular, are often used due to their codominant and multi-allelic characteristics [10]; moreover, they are highly site specific and transferable to related species [11].

Some microsatellite markers have already been developed for U. humidicola [12,13] and have been used for germplasm diversity studies [7,13], with all of them from the same microsatellite-enriched library constructed from genotype H016. Moreover, our research group identified four different gene pools among U. humidicola accessions; genotype H031 was found to be completely different from all other accessions, which was verified by a population structure analysis and by the fact that 18.5% of the tested markers did not amplify in this accession [7]. As a large number of markers are necessary for molecular breeding programs, our goal was to isolate and characterize new polymorphic microsatellite markers for U. humidicola genotype H031 (accession 12) to ensure that its genome was well represented by the new set of markers and also different accessions that belong to different gene pools and to test the transferability of these markers to four other Urochloa species (U. brizantha, U. decumbens, U. ruziziensis, and U. dictyoneura). The results were compared with previously reported data [12,13].

Methods

The plant material for library construction and marker validation was obtained from young leaves from several Urochloa genotypes. For the first library (Lb-1) construction, a single sexual genotype (H031) was used. For the second library (Lb-2) construction, a pool of eight apomictic genotypes (H010, H013, H015, H034, H041, H043, H101, and H108) was used. For marker validation, 34 genotypes were selected, consisting of 20 U. humidicola germplasm accessions, six intra-specific hybrids, and eight Urochloa accessions, as represented by two different accessions from each of the following species: U. brizantha, U. decumbens, U. ruziziensis, and U. dictyoneura. These genotypes were selected based on the four gene pools found by a previous study [7], from which two genotypes were selected from each gene pool. All of the accessions used are from the Urochloa germplasm collection maintained at Embrapa Beef Cattle, Campo Grande, MS, Brazil. They have been personally identified by S. A. Renvoize, from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, UK and their identity have been confirmed by C. B. do Valle when transferred to Brazil [9]. The annotation numbers, accession numbers (as recorded in Embrapa Beef Cattle (EBC) and Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT)), genotypes, and species identifications are shown in Table 1. Genomic DNA was extracted from freeze-dried leaf samples using the CTAB method [14]. The DNA samples were evaluated on a 1% agarose gel and quantified by comparison to known quantities of uncut λ phage DNA (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, CA, USA).

Table 1.

Genotypes of U. humidicola and four species of the genus Urochloa used for the characterization and transferability analyses of new microsatellite markers

AN CIAT BRA EBC Genotype Species
1 16181 4821 H004 germplasm accession U. humidicola
2 16182 4839 H005 germplasm accession U. humidicola
3 16867 4863 H006 germplasm accession U. humidicola
4 16871 4901 H008 germplasm accession U. humidicola
5 16880 4952 H010 germplasm accession U. humidicola
6 16882 4979 H012 germplasm accession U. humidicola
7 16886 5011 H013 germplasm accession U. humidicola
8 26141 5088 H015 germplasm accession U. humidicola
9 26149 5118 H016 germplasm accession U. humidicola
10 16877 4928 H023 germplasm accession U. humidicola
11 16894 5070 H030 germplasm accession U. humidicola
12 26146 5100 H031 germplasm accession U. humidicola
13 26413 6131 H035 germplasm accession U. humidicola
14 26432 6203 H041 germplasm accession U. humidicola
15 16884 4995 H044 germplasm accession U. humidicola
16 NA NA H048 germplasm accession U. humidicola
17 NA 1929 H107 germplasm accession U. humidicola
18 6705 2208 H112 germplasm accession U. humidicola
19 6133 1449 H125 germplasm accession U. humidicola
20 6369 0370 H126 germplasm accession U. humidicola
21 - - 20 hybrid U. humidicola
22 - - 45 hybrid U. humidicola
23 - - 184 hybrid U. humidicola
24 - - 215 hybrid U. humidicola
25 - - 264 hybrid U. humidicola
26 - - 320 hybrid U. humidicola
27 16162 - B057 germplasm accession U. brizantha
28 16467 - B166 germplasm accession U. brizantha
29 16499 004481 D009 germplasm accession U. decumbens
30 26300 004707 D028 germplasm accession U. decumbens
31 26163 005568 R102 germplasm accession U. ruziziensis
32 26174 005614 R104 germplasm accession U. ruziziensis
33 16186 007889 DT157 germplasm accession U. dictyoneura
34 16188 007901 DT159 germplasm accession U. dictyoneura

NA: not available, AN: annotation number, CIAT: Center for Tropical Agriculture, BRA: codes from EMBRAPA, EBC: codes from EMBRAPA Beef Cattle.

Genomic DNA was restriction digested with Afa I (Invitrogen), enriched in microsatellite fragments using (CT)8 and (GT)8 probes, and then used to construct a microsatellite-enriched library following the protocol of Billotte et al. [15]. The enriched microsatellite fragments were cloned into pGEM-T (Promega, Madison, WI), and the ligation products were used to transform Escherichia coli XL1-Blue competent cells. All 94 clones from both libraries were sequenced with an ABI 377 automated sequencer (Applied Biosystems, Foster City, CA) using the BigDye terminator cycle sequencing kit (Applied Biosystems, Foster City, CA).

The microsatellites were identified using MISA software [16]. Only mono-nucleotides with twelve or more repeats, di-nucleotides with six or more repeats, tri-nucleotides with four or more repeats, and tetra-, penta-, and hexa-nucleotides with three or more repeats were considered. Primer pairs were designed using the Primer Select 5.01 software (DNASTAR Inc.) and the Primer3Plus software [17]. Polymerase chain reactions (PCRs) were carried out as previously described [12]. The amplification products were resolved by electrophoresis through 3% agarose gels prior to vertical electrophoresis through 6% denaturing polyacrylamide gels. The gels were then silver stained [18], and the product sizes were determined by comparison to a 10-bp DNA ladder (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, CA).

Polyploid microsatellite genotyping is difficult due to the closeness of fragment sizes, stutter peaks observed and allele overlap due to multiple alleles of the same size. Few methods have been developed to overcome allele overlapping and estimate the allele frequencies, such as the estimation of alleles based on the electropherogram peak ratios [19] or the statistical estimation of allele frequencies [20]. However, for the present study work, we restricted the project to describe the new SSR markers, which were visually scored based on the presence (1) or absence (0) of a band in the polyacrilamide gels for each of the Urochloa genotypes. PIC (Polymorphic Information Content) [21] and DP (Discriminatory Power) [22] values were calculated to estimate polymorphisms at each locus.

The microsatellite scores for the 34 individuals were evaluated using a model-based method with Bayesian clustering approach in STRUCTURE software version 2.2 [23-25]. The admixture model was tested with 200,000 replicates for burn-in and 100,000 replicates for Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) processes through ten iterations (runs). The numbers of clusters (K) were tested from 2 to 20. The optimal number of clusters was estimated using the ΔK value, as previously described [26], and the final graphs were visualized using the STRUCTURE HARVESTER software [27]. The individuals were grouped into clusters according to the association coefficient (Q) proportion of each allelic pool in an individual.

A joint analysis (Lb-c) was performed with the data from the polymorphic loci derived from the new libraries Lb-1 and Lb-2. Data from a previous study [12] that used SSRs developed from accession 9 (H016) were used to compare the three libraries. The data were reanalyzed under the same parameters as those used for the new libraries, resulting in Lb-3. Another joint analysis (Lb-ct) was performed with data from the three libraries together (Lb-1, Lb-2, and Lb-3). The results obtained by STRUCTURE software were permuted by CLUMPP software [28], and the figures were generated using DISTRUCT software [29].

Results

Microsatellite enrichment success for the U. humidicola DNA libraries was 79.0% for Lb-1 and 61.2% for Lb-2. From all of the sequenced clones, 183 microsatellites were identified. Di-nucleotide repeats were the most abundant class of microsatellites detected, representing 76.4% and 72.7% of the loci for Lb-1 and Lb-2, respectively, followed by mono-nucleotide and tetra-nucleotide repeats. Perfect microsatellites were the most abundant (Table 2).

Table 2.

Characterization of new microsatellite-enriched libraries from U. humidicola

Library Lb-1 Lb-2
Total clones sequenced 86.0 80.0
Sequences containing microsatellites (%) 79.0 61.2
Total number of SSRs identified 106.0 77.0
Type of repeat (%)
By nucleotide string Mono-nucleotides 12.7 6.5
Di-nucleotides 76.4 72.7
Tri-nucleotides 1.9 5.2
Tetra-nucleotides 5.6 11.6
Penta-nucleotides 2.8 3.9
Hexa-nucleotides 0.9 0.0
By form Perfect 79.1 80.6
Imperfect 9.3 1.6
Perfect Compound 5.8 9.7
Imperfect Compound 5.8 8.1

Of the 114 SSR primer pairs designed and tested, 72 were successfully amplified in U. humidicola genotypes, and 64 SSRs were polymorphic. A description of the number of alleles per locus and PIC and DP values for both the U. humidicola accessions and Urochloa accessions is presented in Table 3. The loci BhUNICAMP68 to BhUNICAMP108 are derived from Lb-1, and the loci BhUNICAMP109 to BhUNICAMP139 are derived from Lb-2. Based on the allelic frequencies estimated by STRUCTURE software, 36.43% of the alleles are rare (frequency < 0.05), 60.06% are intermediate alleles (0.05 < frequency < 0.30), and 3.50% are abundant alleles (frequency > 0.30).

Table 3.

Characterization of the 72 polymorphic SSR markers developed for U. humidicola

SSR locus GenBank accession number Repeat motif Ta (°C) a Primer sequences (5′-3′) Urochloa species accessions* U. humidicola accessions**
Size range (bp) A b PIC c A b PIC c DP d
BhUNICAMP068 KM068303 (CACACC)4(CA)17 58.5 F_CCACAAACGTGAACACATACA R_AGGGACGGAAACACCCTTAG 226-261 10 0.87 10 0.87 0.95
BhUNICAMP069 KM068304 (TC)25 64.5 F_GAGGAACTCCTTTGGGTAGA R_TTCAGAGAGAGGATGGTATAGAG 285-300 2 0.36 2 0.36 0.58
BhUNICAMP070 KM068305 (GT)9 65 F_CCCCGGTCTCGACCTATC R_GAGGCTGCCCCCTTACTC 174-214 12 0.84 6 0.78 0.54
BhUNICAMP071 KM068306 (AC)11 65 F_CGCAACGAAGCTCCAATAG R_CGATCGCAAGCGTGTATCTA 160-228 11 0.86 11 0.86 0.94
BhUNICAMP072 KM068307 (GT)7 56.5 F_CCCCATGTAAACAACCGTAGA R_CCATGGTTGACCGCTAGAA 174-186 3 0.56 3 0.56 0.85
BhUNICAMP073 KM068308 (TG)10 60 F_TGAACATGTGAATGCCCACT R_ATTGCAGGATGCGGACTCTA 240-304 10 0.85 10 0.85 0.94
BhUNICAMP074 KM068309 (CT)6 58.5 F_ACGAACGATCCGACCAACTA R_TGCTTACGAGACGGCATAGA 231-255 7 0.81 7 0.81 0.92
BhUNICAMP075 KM068310 (TC)22 50 F_TGAATGCTTTTGTCCTGGTATC R_ACGTGCAGCAGCAACAGTA 148-236 28 0.95 24 0.95 0.98
BhUNICAMP076 KM068311 (AC)18 51.5 F_CCGATGGTCAAAGGTCAGTT R_GGTGGGCATATACCATGTTT 206-234 10 0.84 10 0.84 0.66
BhUNICAMP077 KM068312 (AC)7 65 F_CGGGAAGTCCTACTCCGTAA R_GGAGCTCAAGGTAGGGATTG 212-230 8 0.83 8 0.83 0.93
BhUNICAMP078 KM068313 (GT)7 58.5 F_ACCAGTGCACGTCTGAAAGA R_CGATCACTGCTGCGTCATA 216-218 2 0.35 2 0.35 0.52
BhUNICAMP079 KM068314 (AG)12G(GA)17 62.5 F_GGATTGAAAGTTGGAGCACA R_GCATGCTGTGAAGGAGGTTA 180-222 17 0.92 17 0.92 0.96
BhUNICAMP080 KM068315 (GA)26 50 F_CAAGCCTCTTCATGCAAGTAAC R_TGTCATACCCCCATGATTAAGA 176-230 22 0.93 21 0.93 0.93
BhUNICAMP081 KM068316 (AGC)5ACAAT(CA)11 55 F_CTGGCATGGGTCCCTTTAC R_TCTTCTTCCTCCAGCCACAT 160-179 5 0.75 5 0.75 0.95
BhUNICAMP082 KM068317 (CA)23 60 F_TTGCCGGGAACAGTTATACA R_GAAGCTCTATCAAACAGCCCT 157-192 9 0.82 9 0.82 0.92
BhUNICAMP083 KM068318 (AG)22 56.5 F_AAACATGCACCGTCATAACT R_GGGCTTGATTCATTTGTTA 152-190 6 0.68 4 0.68 0.77
BhUNICAMP084 KM068319 (TG)15 65 F_GGCGAAGACCATACCCTGTA R_TGCTGGTGGAAGAAGATGAA 159-182 9 0.80 9 0.80 0.96
BhUNICAMP085 KM068320 (GT)9 60 F_CGATTTATCGACGACCGAGT R_CCTTACTCGCAGGTCTGTCC 158-171 5 0.76 5 0.76 0.64
BhUNICAMP086 KM068321 (TC)19 65 F_AGTTGAATGGGCTGAACCAT R_TGCACTTCCAGGATCAGACA 238-326 10 0.82 10 0.82 0.93
BhUNICAMP087 KM068322 (GT)10 50 F_GGCCATTTCTAGCCAAACAA R_CCTTACTCGCAGGTCTGTCC 240 1 0.00 1 0.00 0.00
BhUNICAMP088 KM068323 (TG)12 65 F_AGAGGTTCCATGGACATTGC R_CTCATCAACAGACGCCTGAA 178 1 0.00 1 0.00 0.00
BhUNICAMP089 KM068324 (AC)7 65 F_CCGGATAGAAGGTCTGAACG R_AGTCGTCGAAGCGAGCTCTA 175 1 0.00 1 0.00 0.00
BhUNICAMP090 KM068325 (CA)10 65 F_CAGAGTAAGCTTCCGGGACA R_CGATTTATCGACGACCGAGT 200-300 12 0.85 11 0.85 0.91
BhUNICAMP091 KM068326 (AC)8 65 F_CTTGTGCCACTTCCACCTTT R_TCGTGTGGACACTTCCTCTG 120-150 9 0.83 9 0.83 0.95
BhUNICAMP092 KM068327 (TG)6 65 F_ATGCCTTGCTCCCACTAACA R_TAAATGCTCCAGCGACCTTC 135-168 11 0.85 11 0.85 0.91
BhUNICAMP093 KM068328 (AAG)4 65 F_GGAGCGCTAATTTCGTTCAG R_CCTCCGTTCTCGCTAATGAC 230 1 0.00 1 0.00 0.00
BhUNICAMP094 KM068329 (TG)7 65 F_TTGGAGCTTTCCCTAGCTCA R_GAACAAGAAGGGAGGAAGCA 272-290 4 0.31 4 0.31 0.39
BhUNICAMP095 KM068330 (TC)16(TG)14 65 F_GGGTTGGCCTACACACTGAT R_CGCACGACATTGATACCTTG 268-320 6 0.75 6 0.75 0.92
BhUNICAMP096 KM068331 (TC)8TT(TC)40 65 F_TGTTCTGCTCACTGGTTTGG R_TCAGCTCTCTACGGCTGGAT 157-255 11 0.87 11 0.87 0.95
BhUNICAMP097 KM068332 (GT)6 65 F_GCGAGCTACCGAGGTATTTG R_ACGTCAATGTCGAGCTTCCT 129-148 5 0.69 5 0.69 0.80
BhUNICAMP098 KM068333 (GT)10(G)18 65 F_GGACTGGTCGTCTTTCCATC R_GCTTTCTGCAAGCGGTAGAT 250-312 9 0.85 9 0.85 0.95
BhUNICAMP099 KM068334 (CA)10TG(GA)10 65 F_TTTGTGGCACCTGCAGAATA R_CGCTTCGTGCTGACAGATTA 124-174 16 0.91 16 0.91 0.99
BhUNICAMP100 KM068335 (TG)12 65 F_GCGCCATGGTTTCATCTATT R_GGTGGTTCCTCGTGTGAGAT 178-219 7 0.79 7 0.79 0.98
BhUNICAMP101 KM068336 (TG)28 65 F_GGTAAAGAAGGGCCGGACT R_GCATGGCATGTTCCTACTGA 128-184 14 0.89 12 0.89 0.97
BhUNICAMP102 KM068337 (GCGA)4 65 F_TGGTGGGCTCCACTATCTCT R_TCCGCCATCTCTCCTCTCT 224-260 12 0.89 12 0.89 0.94
BhUNICAMP103 KM068338 (CT)22 65 F_AGCTCTCCCGCCTCTCTCT R_CATCCACACCGTCTCTCTCA 100-156 14 0.91 14 0.91 0.96
BhUNICAMP104 KM068339 (TG)26 60 F_ACGACGACCTAATGGGTGAA R_ACCCAGCAACAAATCTCGTC 190-274 15 0.87 13 0.87 0.96
BhUNICAMP105 KM068340 (AC)10ATACACACACAC(AG)53 50 F_CTCCATCACGTGCTTGCTAA R_GTGTGATCGGCTGGAGATTT 100-176 30 0.93 29 0.93 0.98
BhUNICAMP106 KM068341 (TTTGT)3 50 F_GCTGTTCGGAGAGGAATCTG R_ATGAGAGGAGGGAAGGAAGG 135-155 8 0.79 7 0.79 0.91
BhUNICAMP107 KM068342 (GA)18 50 F_GGGTCAGTGTCGTCTCAGTTT R_CAGATTCCTCTCCGAACAGC 118-190 26 0.94 26 0.94 0.98
BhUNICAMP108 KM068343 (CT)16 65 F_TTGCCATTACTGGATCTGGA R_GCGCCACCCATAACTTAAA 112-160 14 0.85 13 0.85 0.94
BhUNICAMP109 KM068344 (GT)9 60 F_AGCGAGTCAAGCACAAGGAT R_GGGTCCAATCTCCCTCTCTC 186-226 9 0.82 9 0.82 0.93
BhUNICAMP110 KM068345 (TG)8 65 F_TCTGCATCCACTAGGCTCAG R_TCCTCCACCTTCTTTCCGTA 148-164 4 0.39 4 0.39 0.46
BhUNICAMP111 KM068346 (TG)27 65 F_AACTCCGACTATCTTCCAGTTGA R_AATGCATGGGTAGGATCTGC 250-330 15 0.89 15 0.89 0.96
BhUNICAMP112 KM068347 (AC)26 65 F_GACCAAACCCTCCGAAGTTA R_GGTTGCAACTACACGACCAG 246-300 10 0.81 10 0.81 0.94
BhUNICAMP113 KM068348 (CGTG)3 63 F_AACTTCGAGAGGTTCGTCCA R_ACCGGCAATCTATCCGTGT 144-179 3 0.45 3 0.45 0.51
BhUNICAMP114 KM068349 (CT)21 63 F_TATACAAGGCGCATCCACAA R_GCTCTTTCCTCACGCTGTTC 200-266 15 0.89 15 0.89 0.96
BhUNICAMP115 KM068350 (AC)27(AT)7 60 F_CTTCCTGCCAATAAGCGAAG R_CGAGCTTCCAGATTCTTTGG 240 1 0.00 1 0.00 0.00
BhUNICAMP116 KM068351 (TG)8 65 F_CTCCGCACCGCTTAAATTAG R_GTTGGAAATGGTGCTTCCAC 288-306 3 0.52 3 0.52 0.62
BhUNICAMP117 KM068352 (TGA)7 65 F_CCAACTGAACGGCCATACTT R_CCCACAAAGGAACCCTGAT 290-300 4 0.61 4 0.61 0.77
BhUNICAMP118 KM068353 (AG)9 50 F_CTGCATAACTTTCAGCCATCTC R_TTGGCACAACTGGAACGTAG 149 1 0.00 1 0.00 0.00
BhUNICAMP119 KM068354 (AAG)7 65 F_AAGGGCGTGATGTTCTGAAG R_AGGCCAAACGAATTTCTCAA 189-204 4 0.66 4 0.66 0.82
BhUNICAMP120 KM068355 (AT)8ACACACACACG(CA)9 65 F_TCCAGCAGTGTGTTCCTCAG R_ACCAGGAGTGCATAGCCAAG 190-200 6 0.71 6 0.71 0.75
BhUNICAMP121 KM068356 (TC)12 65 F_CGCTACTGCTGCACACAAAT R_CTGAGTGCGCCGTATGTTTA 170-195 6 0.71 6 0.71 0.92
BhUNICAMP122 KM068357 (GT)15 65 F_AGGAAGGCTCGCACTCACTA R_CCAAAGGCGGTGGTTAGATA 200-315 14 0.90 14 0.90 0.95
BhUNICAMP123 KM068358 (TTA)4 65 F_CCAAACTCTAGCTTTCACAGCA R_TTGGATCCACGTCAAACAAG 280 1 0.00 1 0.00 0.00
BhUNICAMP124 KM068359 (AG)23 65 F_TTGGAGTTGCTGGGCTATTT R_GAACCAAGCATAAGGCAACA 218-320 12 0.85 10 0.85 0.95
BhUNICAMP125 KM068360 (GT)8GAATGTGTGT(GA)7 65 F_TGTTATCAGTGCAGGTGTTGG R_GAGGCTGACGAAAGCTCAAC 258-280 7 0.81 7 0.81 0.93
BhUNICAMP126 KM068361 (AC)10 65 F_GGGAACCCAGGGTATCGTAT R_CTCTCCCAGCGTCTTTCCTT 210 1 0.00 1 0.00 0.00
BhUNICAMP127 KM068362 (GT)6 65 F_CCACCATTGCTTCCAGAGTAA R_ATTCGCCTCTCCTAGCACAA 272-320 7 0.69 7 0.69 0.91
BhUNICAMP128 KM068363 (GA)37 65 F_TGCCTGGAGACTGAGAAAGG R_CCTGCAGCAGACCTTCACAT 150-240 17 0.91 17 0.91 0.98
BhUNICAMP129 KM068364 (AC)7ATGAA(CATG)3(CA)22 63 F_TGTGTTTAGACCGCCAACAA R_TTATCGGCTCCCATTCACTC 207-310 11 0.84 10 0.84 0.95
BhUNICAMP130 KM068365 (AC)7 63 F_ACGCAGGAGAACTGCGTATC R_ATGGGATCCAACCGAACATA 236-300 12 0.79 11 0.79 0.87
BhUNICAMP131 KM068366 (AC)7(A)16 60 F_CATCAGATGCCTCAAACAGC R_GCAGGTGTGCAGCAAATAGA 184-238 14 0.87 14 0.87 0.93
BhUNICAMP132 KM068367 (TG)7(T)29 50 F_TCACTAGTGCGTCTGCTGCT R_GCACTCCATTGCAGACCTAAG 184-196 4 0.53 3 0.53 0.63
BhUNICAMP133 KM068368 (TG)10 50 F_CATGACTTATGTCCTTGGTGGA R_TCGACAGTGGAGCCACAA 114-162 19 0.89 16 0.89 0.97
BhUNICAMP134 KM068369 (CCGG)3 60 F_CAAACGGAGGAAGAGAGACG R_GGTGTCAATGCAGCCAAGTA 114-135 9 0.75 5 0.75 0.83
BhUNICAMP135 KM068370 (AG)27 65 F_CATGAGCCATCTCGTTGTTG R_TGCATTGACTTGACGTCTCC 176-260 14 0.90 9 0.90 0.91
BhUNICAMP136 KM068371 (AC)9(ACAA)3 50 F_TCCTGGTAAAGTTCCTCGTCA R_ACAACAATGCACGTCGAGAA 225-290 7 0.75 6 0.75 0.93
BhUNICAMP137 KM068372 (GA)23 65 F_TAGGTTTGGGTGGCACTAGG R_CTCCATGCTGCGTTGCTAT 258-320 11 0.85 9 0.85 0.91
BhUNICAMP138 KM068373 (T)12 60 F_TGCTCATGTGGGTCACATTT R_TGTGTGCCTGTGTGATGCTA 270-288 5 0.70 5 0.70 0.95
BhUNICAMP139 KM068374 (AAAAG)3 65 F_TCCTTTCTTTGAGCCGAGAG R_GCTGATGCTGACATCAAGGA 248-294 6 0.67 5 0.67 0.97
Total average 10.26 0.77 9.60 0.77 0.87
Lb-1 average 11.05 0.79 10.48 0.79 0.87
Lb-2 average 9.18 0.75 8.40 0.75 0.86

*Species evaluated: Urochloa humidicola (Rendle) Morrone & Zuloaga, Urochloa brizantha (Hochst. ex A. Rich.) R.D. Webster, Urochloa decumbens (Stapf) R.D. Webster, Urochloa dictyoneura (Figure & De Not.) Veldkamp, Urochloa ruziziensis (R. Germ. & C.M. Evrard) Crins.

**Hybrids included.

aAmplification temperature (°C).

bMaximum number of alleles observed.

cPolymorphism Information Content.

dDiscrimination Power.

A survey of the potential transferability of the microsatellite markers from U. humidicola to other Urochloa species identified that 61.11% of the 72 markers resulted in amplified PCR products in at least one U. brizantha genotype, 58.33% were amplified in U. decumbens, 59.72% were amplified in U. ruziziensis, and 69.44% were amplified in U. dictyoneura. The number of successfully amplified genotypes per number of genotypes tested per species is shown in Table 4.

Table 4.

Cross-amplification of the 72 SSR markers among other Urochloa species

Transferability a,b
SSR locus U. brizantha U. decumben U. ruziziensis U. dictyoneura
BhUNICAMP068 0/2 0/2 0/2 0/2
BhUNICAMP069 0/2 0/2 0/2 0/2
BhUNICAMP070 2/2 2/2 2/2 2/2
BhUNICAMP071 0/2 0/2 0/2 2/2
BhUNICAMP072 1/2 1/2 0/2 1/2
BhUNICAMP073 0/2 0/2 0/2 2/2
BhUNICAMP074 0/2 0/2 0/2 0/2
BhUNICAMP075 2/2 2/2 2/2 2/2
BhUNICAMP076 2/2 2/2 2/2 1/2
BhUNICAMP077 2/2 2/2 2/2 2/2
BhUNICAMP078 1/2 0/2 1/2 1/2
BhUNICAMP079 2/2 2/2 2/2 1/2
BhUNICAMP080 2/2 1/2 2/2 1/2
BhUNICAMP081 0/2 0/2 0/2 0/2
BhUNICAMP082 2/2 0/2 1/2 1/2
BhUNICAMP083 1/2 1/2 1/2 2/2
BhUNICAMP084 2/2 2/2 2/2 2/2
BhUNICAMP085 2/2 2/2 2/2 2/2
BhUNICAMP086 2/2 2/2 2/2 2/2
BhUNICAMP087 2/2 2/2 2/2 2/2
BhUNICAMP088 2/2 2/2 2/2 2/2
BhUNICAMP089 0/2 0/2 0/2 0/2
BhUNICAMP090 2/2 2/2 2/2 2/2
BhUNICAMP091 0/2 0/2 0/2 2/2
BhUNICAMP092 0/2 0/2 0/2 2/2
BhUNICAMP093 0/2 0/2 0/2 0/2
BhUNICAMP094 2/2 2/2 1/2 2/2
BhUNICAMP095 0/2 0/2 0/2 0/2
BhUNICAMP096 2/2 2/2 1/2 2/2
BhUNICAMP097 2/2 2/2 2/2 2/2
BhUNICAMP098 0/2 0/2 0/2 0/2
BhUNICAMP099 0/2 0/2 0/2 0/2
BhUNICAMP100 0/2 0/2 0/2 0/2
BhUNICAMP101 2/2 2/2 2/2 2/2
BhUNICAMP102 0/2 0/2 0/2 0/2
BhUNICAMP103 2/2 1/2 2/2 2/2
BhUNICAMP104 2/2 2/2 2/2 2/2
BhUNICAMP105 2/2 2/2 2/2 2/2
BhUNICAMP106 2/2 2/2 2/2 2/2
BhUNICAMP107 2/2 2/2 2/2 1/2
BhUNICAMP108 2/2 2/2 2/2 1/2
BhUNICAMP109 2/2 2/2 2/2 2/2
BhUNICAMP110 2/2 2/2 2/2 2/2
BhUNICAMP111 2/2 2/2 2/2 2/2
BhUNICAMP112 2/2 2/2 2/2 2/2
BhUNICAMP113 0/2 0/2 0/2 0/2
BhUNICAMP114 0/2 0/2 0/2 0/2
BhUNICAMP115 0/2 0/2 0/2 0/2
BhUNICAMP116 2/2 2/2 2/2 2/2
BhUNICAMP117 0/2 0/2 0/2 2/2
BhUNICAMP118 0/2 0/2 0/2 0/2
BhUNICAMP119 0/2 0/2 0/2 0/2
BhUNICAMP120 2/2 2/2 2/2 2/2
BhUNICAMP121 2/2 2/2 2/2 2/2
BhUNICAMP122 0/2 0/2 0/2 0/2
BhUNICAMP123 0/2 0/2 0/2 2/2
BhUNICAMP124 2/2 2/2 2/2 0/2
BhUNICAMP125 0/2 0/2 0/2 0/2
BhUNICAMP126 2/2 2/2 2/2 2/2
BhUNICAMP127 0/2 0/2 0/2 0/2
BhUNICAMP128 0/2 0/2 0/2 0/2
BhUNICAMP129 2/2 2/2 2/2 0/2
BhUNICAMP130 2/2 2/2 2/2 2/2
BhUNICAMP131 2/2 2/2 2/2 2/2
BhUNICAMP132 0/2 0/2 0/2 2/2
BhUNICAMP133 2/2 2/2 2/2 2/2
BhUNICAMP134 2/2 2/2 2/2 2/2
BhUNICAMP135 2/2 2/2 2/2 2/2
BhUNICAMP136 2/2 2/2 1/2 2/2
BhUNICAMP137 2/2 2/2 2/2 2/2
BhUNICAMP138 0/2 0/2 0/2 2/2
BhUNICAMP139 2/2 2/2 2/2 2/2
Total 44 42 43 50
Amplification % 61,11 58,33 59,72 69,44

aNumber of successfully amplified genotypes/Number of tested genotypes.

bNomenclatural classification: Urochloa humidicola (Rendle) Morrone & Zuloaga, Urochloa brizantha (Hochst. ex A. Rich.) R.D. Webster, Urochloa decumbens (Stapf) R.D. Webster, Urochloa dictyoneura (Figure & De Not.) Veldkamp, Urochloa ruziziensis (R. Germ. & C.M. Evrard) Crins.

The population structure analysis based on SSR allelic data showed differentiation among the U. humidicola accessions, hybrids, and other Urochloa species. The STRUCTURE analysis for Lb-1 and Lb-2 and the joint analysis of data from both libraries (Lb-c) showed K = 18, K = 17, and K = 17 allelic pools, respectively, with each one represented by a different color in Figure 1. Clusters I to V were composed of U. humidicola accessions. Cluster VI was composed of two U. humidicola accessions (accessions 9 and 12) and six hybrids derived from a controlled cross between these two accessions. The other Urochloa species were grouped into Clusters VII and VIII for Lb-1 and Lb-c and in Cluster VII for Lb-2.

Figure 1.

Figure 1

Analysis performed with STRUCTURE software. Lb-1: Library constructed from a sexual accession (H031), Lb-2: Library constructed from a pool of eight apomictic accessions, Lb-3: Library constructed from an apomictic accession (H016) [12], Lb-c: Joint analysis of Lb-1 and Lb-2, Lb-ct: Joint analysis of Lb-1, Lb-2, and Lb-3. Each of the 34 genotypes is represented by a single column divided into colored segments with lengths proportional to each of the allelic pools inferred by K through Evanno method [24]. Each K is represented by a different color and Lb-1 presented K = 18, Lb-2 K = 17, Lb-c K = 17, Lb-3 K = 15, and Lb-ct K = 18. The individuals were grouped into clusters according to the Q proportion of each allelic pool in an individual. Eight clusters were identified for Lb-1, Lb-c, Lb-3, and Lb-ct (I to VIII) and seven clusters for Lb-2 (I to VII). The left scale indicates the association coefficient (Q) for the assignment of genotypes into groups. The genotypes are named according to the annotated numbers listed in Table 1.

The STRUCTURE analysis for Lb-3 and Lb-ct showed K = 15 and K = 18 allelic pools, respectively (Figure 1), classified in the same clusters as for Lb-1 and Lb-c.

Discussion

In the present study, we described 72 new SSRs for U. humidicola, 64 of which are polymorphic. Along with the 67 previous developed SSRs [12,13], these markers contribute to the genetic breeding of the species and other species of the genus Urochloa in efforts to obtain new cultivars and better understanding of the species genetic, through genetic mapping, marker-assisted selection, genome sequencing and synteny.

The increased occurrence of di-nucleotide motifs for Lb-1 and Lb-2 is in accordance with the enrichment of both libraries with (CT)8 and (GT)8 probes. In addition, Morgante et al. [30] reported a higher occurrence of microsatellites with di-nucleotide motifs in plants, which may have been a contributing factor in our observation.

Among the microsatellites analyzed, 88% had a polymorphism among the evaluated genotypes. The most informative loci in this panel of SSRs were those with the highest PIC and DP values (BhUNICAMP075 and BhUNICAMP107). Locus BhUNICAMP094 showed the lowest values for PIC and DP, at 0.3165 and 0.3969, respectively, even though it was amplified in all the Urochloa species evaluated. This also occurred with the BhUNICAMP030 locus [12]. Both loci may be useful markers for studies in Urochloa because it may be the result of a conserved region among the species studied herein. Monomorphic loci may be useful in other studies.

The transferability rates of the loci from U. humidicola to four other species were very similar. Although these results were not highly variable, U. dictyoneura presented the highest transferability, corroborating the genetic closeness between U. dictyoneura and U. humidicola, as has been previously described [2,31] and the results obtained in another study [13].

For the population structure analysis, different numbers of allelic pools [K] were observed for all analyses. However, the individual composition presented in each cluster was maintained into Lb-1, Lb-c, Lb-3, and Lb-ct analyses, but for Lb-2 analysis, the Clusters VII and VIII were grouped into Cluster VII.

The genotypes of the species U. brizantha, U. decumbens, and U. ruziziensis were grouped into the same cluster in all the analyses. However, the U. dictyoneura genotypes were grouped separately from the other species for all the analyses, except for Lb-2, with the four species grouping into Cluster VII.

In all analyses, Cluster VI included accessions 9 and 12, and six hybrids derived from crosses between these two accessions grouped together. However, in a previous study, the progenitors did not group together with the hybrids [13], as only runs from K = 1 to K = 10 were performed. These hybrids are part of an F1 population that is being mapped with the SSRs described in this study and previously published [12,13].

Although some discrepancies were found among the three libraries (Lb-1, Lb-2, and Lb-3), the set of loci belonging to each was able to satisfactorily differentiate the accessions. Comparing the three libraries developed, Lb-1 presented the highest number of allelic pools, which may be correlated to the usage of the accession H031, a highly diverse genotype, as described by [7]. The genotype used for the enriched library construction directly influences the results. The joint analysis of the three libraries (Lb-ct) would be the most recommended way to differentiate among accessions, because it uses loci derived from many different genotypes, conferring a greater reliability of the observed results.

These markers are immediately useful for U. humidicola breeding programs, aiding in areas such as the construction of linkage and QTL maps, gene flow and mating system evaluation, and marker-assisted selection.

Availability of supporting data

The datasets supporting the results of this article are included in the article.

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Dr. Cacilda Borges do Valle, Dr. Leticia Jungmann and the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (EMBRAPA Beef Cattle) for providing the Urochloa accessions used. This work was supported by grants from Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP, 2008/52197-4) and a scholarship to FAO (2013/14903-2). JCSS is a recipient of a scholarship from Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES-EMBRAPA Program), and MAB is a recipient of a scholarship from Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq). APS is a recipient of a research fellowship from CNPq.

Abbreviations

A

Maximum number of alleles observed

AN

Annotation number

BRA

Codes of the accessions from EMBRAPA

CAPES

Coordination of Improvement of Higher Education Personnel

CIAT

Center for Tropical Agriculture

CTAB

Cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide

DNA

Deoxyribonucleic acid

DP

Discrimination power

EBC

Embrapa beef cattle

EMBRAPA

Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation

FAPESP

Foundation for Research Support of the State of Sao Paulo

K

Number of clusters

Lb-1

Library construction from a sexual accession (H031)

Lb-2

Library construction from a pool of eight apomictic accessions

Lb-3

Library construction from an apomictic accession (H016) [12]

Lb-c

Joint analysis of Lb-1 and Lb-2

Lb-ct

Joint analysis of Lb-1, Lb-2, and Lb-3

MCMC

Markov Chain Monte Carlo

NA

Not available

bp

Base pairs

PCR

Polymerase chain reaction

PIC

Polymorphism information content

Q

Association coefficient from STRUCTURE analysis

QTL

Quantitative trait locus

SSR

Simple sequence repeat

Ta (°C)

Annealing temperature

Footnotes

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Authors’ contributions

JCSS and MAB developed the microsatellite-enriched libraries, participated in the microsatellite marker validation, performed the statistical analysis, and drafted the manuscript. JCSS and FAO carried out computational searches for microsatellite identification and drafted the manuscript. BBZV participated in the design and implementation of the study and helped to draft the manuscript. APS conceived of and supervised the study and helped to draft the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Contributor Information

Jean CS Santos, Email: jsantos.agro@gmail.com.

Mariana A Barreto, Email: maribiologista@gmail.com.

Fernanda A Oliveira, Email: f.ancelmo.o@gmail.com.

Bianca BZ Vigna, Email: bianca.vigna@embrapa.br.

Anete P Souza, Email: anete@unicamp.br.

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