Molecular characterization of twenty polymorphic microsatellite markers in the polyploid fruit tree species Syzygium samarangense (Myrtaceae).

Syzygium samarangense (Blume) Merr. & Perry (wax apple) is an important commercial fruit tree in Southeast Asia. Here, microsatellite markers were developed to evaluate genetic diversity and distinguish cultivars in this species. In total, 161 microsatellite loci with sufficient flanking sequences to design primer sets were isolated from wax apple using a magnetic bead-enrichment method. Fifty-eight primer sets were designed based on the flanking sequences of each single sequence repeat (SSR) locus and were tested using 14 wax apple cultivars/lines. Twenty SSR loci were found to be polymorphic and transferable across the 14 wax apple cultivars/lines. The number of alleles and effective number of alleles detected per locus ranged from 4 to 12 and from 1.697 to 9.800, respectively. The expected heterozygosity ranged from 0.150 to 0.595 (mean = 0.414). Polymorphism information content values ranged from 0.502 to 0.866 (mean = 0.763). These new microsatellite loci will be of value for characterization of genetic diversity in wax apples and for the identification of cultivars.

Interleukin-10 promoter polymorphisms associated with susceptibility to lumbar disc degeneration in a Chinese cohort.

We investigated a possible association between interleukin (IL)-10 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and susceptibility to and severity of lumbar disc degeneration (LDD) in a Chinese cohort of 320 patients with LDD and 269 gender- and age-matched controls. The degree of disc degeneration was determined by magnetic resonance imaging using Schneiderman's classification. Genetic analysis of IL-10 promoter polymorphisms (at -1082 A/G, -819 T/C, and -592 A/C) was carried out by PCR-RFLP. A total of 134 herniated lumbar intervertebral discs were collected during surgery for IL-10 mRNA detection. For SNPs at -592, the A allele and AA genotype frequencies were significantly higher in LDD patients than in controls. Similarly, the AA genotype and A allele frequencies at -1082 were significantly higher in cases than in controls. Among the LDD subjects, carriers of AA at -592 and GG at -1082 had significantly lower mean IL-10 mRNA expression than the other two genotypes. The SNPs at each locus were not significantly associated with severity grade in the LDD patients. Logistic regression analyses showed that the AA at -1082, AA at -592, and IL-10 mRNA expression level were independent risk factors for LDD. We conclude that the IL-10 SNPs at -1082 A/G and -592 A/C as well as IL-10 mRNA in the herniated lumbar intervertebral discs are associated with susceptibility to LDD in this Chinese cohort, but not with disease severity.