The 2011 ASHS Annual Conference

Viburnum dilatatum is a popular, economically important ornamental shrub because of it’s year round appeal.  In spring and summer it has beautiful green foliage and attractive small white flowers, and in autumn it takes on dark red to maroon hues and becomes laden with glossy, bright red berries.  The wide range of desirable traits coupled with the propensity to become invasive have created a great deal of interest in the genetics and breeding of this species.  We report the results of a small insert GT-enriched genomic microsatellite (SSR) library constructed from V. dilatatum ‘Asian Beauty.’  Eleven unique microsatellite loci were characterized from a group of 19 taxa including V. dilatatum cultivars, two other Viburnum species, and Sambucus, which is another genus within the Adoxaceae. Two –to- twelve alleles were identified per SSR locus, and the allelic richness ranged from 2.0 to 7.0.  The molecular markers for V. dilatatum exhibited high cross-species transferability to the two species of Viburnum included in the study.  Additionally, two of the SSR markers also transferred to Sambucus.  This set of molecular markers will be useful in the early detection of feral plants that are growing invasively causing economical and environmental damage. Moreover, these markers will be helpful in breeding programs aimed at developing new cultivars of Viburnum, and possibly refining and defining the phylogenetic relationship of V. dilatatum to other species within the vast Viburnum genus and to other genera within the Adoxaceae.