Transferability of Novel EST-SSR Markers in Stylosanthes guianensis Across the Species of Stylosanthes

To obtain effective molecular markers for Stylosanthes which is one o f the most excellent legume forages, 2008 EST-SSR markers were developed using the transcriptomic sequences from S. guianensis cv. Reyan No.5. To assess the usefulness and universality of these novel EST-SSR markers within Stylosanthes genus, 117EST-SSR markers were selected to determine the usefulness in S. guianensis and the transferability among other close eight species. The results showed that 98 of 117 EST-SSR markers were able to produce reliable bands with expected sizes and 96 markers were polymorphic, with 2~11 alleles among different Stylosanthes accessions. The transferability of 98 validated EST-SSR markers across other close eight species was very high, ranging from82.2% to 100%, and 69 markers of them were common in all eight species of Stylosanthes. The results would provide a basis for the application of EST-SSR in genetic diversity, construction of genetic maps, and molecular marker-assisted selection breeding in stylo species.