Use of Microsatellite Markers in an American Beech (Fagus grandifolia) Population and Paternity Testing

Cross-species amplification of six microsatellite markers from European beech (Fagus sylvatica Linn) and nine markers from Japanese beech (Fagus crenata Blume) was tested in American beech (Fagus grandifolia Ehrh.). Three microsatellites from each species were successfully adapted for use in American beech and were found to be highly polymorphic, with 4-22 alleles at each locus and an expected heterozygosity value of 0.291 to 0.913. Twenty-five trees (including two clonal clusters) from a mature stand were sampled and genotyped to compute population statistics. No linkage disequilibrium between pairs of loci was detected, and the marker loci indicated that the population is at Hardy- Weinberg equilibrium. The markers were also used to genotype two full-sibling families consisting of a combined total of 99 individuals and were found to contain sufficient genetic information to assign paternity using a maximum likelihood method.