Distribution Pattern and Insertional Polymorphism of Retrotransposons in Linum austriacum L. Populations

Retrotransposons are current component of plants genomes. Their frequency, activity and even distribution thorough plant genomes make them useful as molecular markers. IRAP (Inter-retrotransposon amplified polymorphism) and REMAP (Retrotransposon-microsatellite amplified polymorphism) markers were used to study the activity, distribution and insertional polymophism of some LTR retrotransposons in Linum austriacum. The results showed that LTR retrotransposons used, are trsnspositionally active in L. austriacum genome and they are inserted near each other and in proximity of microsatellite regions as well. Out of 58 primers tested, 20 primers (7 IRAP and 13 REMAP) produced discernible and scorable banding patterns. In total, 199 loci were amplified by using 20 primers, of them 129 were polymorphic. The maximum and minimum number of polymorphic loci was amplified by primers LTR1868 and LTR1854-A13, respectively. The minimum and maximum Nei genetic distances based on IRAP, REMAP and IRAP䑃 markers was observed between Urmia-Silvana and Khoy and Urmia-Sero and Urmia-Silvana populations, respectively. Mantel test between IRAP and REMAP cophenetic matrices evidenced no significant correlation. IRAP䑃based cluster analysis using Minimum evolution method and Number of differences coefficients assigned individuals to four groups. The results make conclusion that IRAP and REMAP markers developed based on Linum active retrotransposons could be used as new tools in Linum breeding programs.