Comparison of ISSR and RAPD markers to characterize three Chilean Nothofagus species.

The present study is the first report of fingerprinting on three Chilean Nothofagus species using ISSR and RAPD markers. 61 N. nervosa, 32 N. obliqua and 32 N. dombeyi individual trees sampled from collection and natural sites were analyzed. Among 45 primers tested, the 6 ISSR and 6 RAPD primers selected for the analysis generated a total of 63 ISSR and 42 RAPD fragments. A high proportion of polymorphic bands, ranging from 97% and 80%, was found using both markers. A similar number of private and marker bands were generated by both markers in all the species examined and one discriminant ISSR fragment was obtained for N. dombeyi. Jaccard and Dice similarity indices were used to evaluate pairwise genetic divergence; cluster analysis of the similarity matrices was performed to estimate the intra and interspecific genetic diversity and the PCA analysis was employed to evaluate the resolving power of the markers to differentiate among the species. These analyses, carried out for both markers, allowed to identify three main groups corresponding to the three Nothofagus species. The results of the present study can be seen as a starting point for future researches on population and evolutionary genetics of these species.