Triplet-repeat microsatellites shared among hard and soft pines

Vascular plant species have shown a low level of microsatellite conservation compared to many animal species. Finding trans-specific microsatellites for plants may be improved by using a priori knowledge of genome organization. Fifteen triplet-repeat microsatellites from hard pine (Pinus taeda L.) were tested for trans-specific amplification across seven hard pines (P. palustris Mill., P. echinata Mill., P. radiata D. Don., P. patula Schiede et Deppe, P. halepensis Mill., P. kesiya Royle), a soft pine (P. strobus L.), and Picea rubens Sargent. Seven of 15 microsatellites had trans-specific amplification in both hard and soft pine subgenera. Two P. taeda microsatellites had conserved flanking regions and repeat motifs in all seven hard pines, soft pine P. strobus, and P. rubens. Perfect triplet-repeat P. taeda microsatellites appear to be better candidates for trans-specific polymorphism than compound microsatellites. Not all perfect triplet-repeat microsatellites were conserved, but all conserved microsatellites had perfect repeat motifs. Persistent microsatellites PtTX2123 and PtTX3020 had highly conserved flanking regions and a conserved repeat motif composition with variable repeat unit numbers. Using trinucleotide microsatellites improved trans-specific microsatellite recovery among hard and soft pine species.