SSR Markers Associated with Sex-difference of Populus yunnanensis Dode

  Objective   Means utilizing molecular markers to differentiate rapidly and accurately male and female Populus yunnanensis plants at young stages was investigated.

  Method   Using simple sequence repeats (SSR), molecular markers were screened for those might associate with the sex of P. yunnanensis at seedling stages and before flowering.

  Result   Fifteen pairs of SSR primers were selected from the reported literatures. One of them, coded BPCA90, showed clear bands and stable reaction in agarose gel detection. After rescreening the primer by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, a specific band of approximately 680 bp appeared in the PCR amplification of male P. yunnanensis. Subsequent testing on 30 plants using these SSR primers showed significantly more males than females in a ratio of 13 to 2.

  Conclusion  Short of a visible morphological sign for the determination, the SSR primers screened by this study appeared to suffice the general purpose of differentiating the sex of P. yunnanensis at early growth stage.