The use of cross species SSR primers to study genetic diversity of okra from Burkina Faso.

Sixteen pairs of primers designed to amplify SSR regions of Medicago truncatula were used to amplify genomic DNA samples of 20 different okra accessions collected from different regions Burkina Faso. These primers amplified a number of fragments that range from 1-16 with the sizes of 396-506 bp. Each accession was scored for the presence or absence of the bands and phylogenetic analysis of these data clustered the 20 accessions into five different groups. Two okra accessions were distinctly different from other 18, based on the molecular marker as well as on morphological features of their fruits. One of the primers, MT-27 amplified a unique 440 bp PCR product in these 2 okra accessions. This PCR product was sequenced and based on the sequence information, sequence specific primers were designed to PCR amplify the genomic DNA of all the okra accessions. This pair of primer amplified PCR products only in the two okra accessions where the amplification of the PCR products was seen with MT-27 primers. Our data indicate that cross species SSR primer developed for Medicago truncatula can also be used to analyze genetic diversity in unrelated species, like Okra.