Customer Magazine Article: Detecting genetic diversity of willow ( Salix spp.) using amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) and microsatellite marker analyses

1 Amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) and microsatellites (simple sequence repeats; SSRs) are useful methods for studying genetic diversity of willow (Salix spp.). AFLP delivers a large number of data points from a single experiment and is a useful method for distinguishing between closely related individuals. SSR markers are very robust tools, and we have identified several markers that show high levels of polymorphism in willow. Both techniques rely on highly pure genomic DNA as starting material. For this purpose we use Nucleon PhytoPure Kit which yields high-quality DNA, without the use of phenol. The technique is fast, allowing 75 preps to be completed in a day, with yields of 10 μg DNA per 0.1 g starting material. Nucleon PhytoPure Kit has enabled us to generate reproducible PCR-based profiles with high throughput.