Selection of inter-simple sequence repeat markers for investigation of genetic diversity of Impatiens spp. populations

Abstract

More than 1000 species are in family Balsaminaceae, among them only five species: Impatiens noli-tangere, I. parviflora, I. glandulifera, I. balfourii and I. balsamina are present in Europe. Impatiens balfourii is not often met and I. balsamina is known only as introduced and grown ornamental plant. Europe’s Impatiens represents a unique opportunity to study invasion process due to very special set of the species: I. noli-tangere is growing naturally, I. parviflora is widely spread alien with a very high degree of naturalization and I. glandulifera is an alien very actively spreading nowadays. The objective of our study was to select inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR) markers appropriate for genetic assessment of Impatiens spp. growing in Lithuania and Czech Republic. For this purpose 6 ISSR primers (twelve nucleotide length each) were tested [1]. Conditions of polymerase chain reaction were the same for all examined plant species. In total 5 primers were suitable for Impatiens studies. The primer ISSR1 has not generated amplification of any Impatiens species DNA, ISSR4 was not applicable for I. noli-tangere and I. parviflora, the primer ISSR6 did not generate clear, reproducible DNA fragments for I. glandulifera. Three (ISSR2, ISSR3 and ISSR5) out of six primers were useful for all three species. Examination of 12 Lithuania and 12 Czech Republic populations of I. noli-tangere, I. parviflora and I. glandulifera shown that the number of DNA fragments was ranged from 23 to 55, the length was 150–2100 bp. The mean number of polymorphic ISSR fragments per population for I. noli-tangere was 45, for I. parviflora 41.1 and for I. glandulifera 40.5. The mean percentage of polymorphic DNA fragments per population was 48 % for I. noli-tangere, 26.5 % for I. parviflora and 22 % for I. glandulifera. [...]