Identification of mother trees based on microsatellite analysis of maternal tissues from seeds, fruits, and seedlings

The availability of hypervariable microsatellite markers has greatly extended the possibility of parentage analysis in natural plant populations. However, maternity and paternity analysis based on DNA from biparental tissues is often difficult when both parents are unknown and many candidates are available. In this paper, I present a new approach for the identification of the mother trees based on microsatellite analysis of maternal tissues from seeds, fruits, and seedlings. By comparing the maternal genotype with the genotypes of the adult trees, it is possible to unambiguously identify mother trees from the candidates in a population. Because DNA extraction from particular maternal tissues such as woody pericarps is technically complicated, different DNA extraction methods and PCR amplification procedures should be tested on each tissue before performing routine analyses. By choosing the best laboratory procedures based on what tissue is to be analyzed, studying seed dispersal as well as the relative fertility of individual trees in a forest is possible.