Survey of microsatellite DNA in pine

A large insert genomic library from eastern white pine (Pinus strobus) was probed for the microsatellite motifs (AC)n and (AG)n, all 10 trinucleotide motifs, and 22 of the 33 possible tetranucleotide motifs. For comparison with a species from a different subgenus, a loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) genomic library was also probed with the same set of di- and tri-nucleotide repeats and 11 of the tetranucleotide repeats. The four most abundant microsatellite motifs in both species were (AC)n, (AG)n, (AAT)n, and (ATC)n, which as a group accounted for over half the microsatellite sites investigated. The two dinucleotide repeats were the most abundant microsatellite motifs tested in both species, each at 2-4.5 sites/megabase pair (Mbp), but the two trinucleotide motifs were nearly as abundant and are considered good candidates for pine microsatellite marker development efforts. Eastern white pine had more than twice as many (AC)n as (AG)n loci, in contrast with loblolly pine and most other plant species in which (AG)n is more abundant. In both pine species the minimum estimated genome density for all microsatellites, excluding (AT)n repeats, was 16 sites/Mbp.