Evaluation of the genetic diversity of a set of parents of Eucalyptus spp. by using microsatellite markers to direct matings

Background To obtain genetically superior cultivars in a breeding program, methods and procedures are necessary to allow the identification of selected individuals over several cycles of selection while at the same time maintain broad genetic base of the breeding populations. This is crucial to guarantee continuous genetic gains along the program. The establishment of efficient breeding strategies depends on methods and analytical tools. The assessment of genetic diversity with molecular markers of parents used in mating designs could aid optimizing the recombination phase. Microsatellites provide good information content and require small amounts of DNA and may be transferable between species of the same genus. In this study we evaluated the genetic diversity in a set of Eucalyptus parent trees and indicated those to be preferentially crossed in a recombination process to potentially maximize variation in the offspring for individual selection of clones.