Cultivated peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) consists of six botanical varieties. Identification of DNA markers associated with botanical varieties would be useful in plant genotyping, germplasm management, and evolutionary studies. We have developed 130 simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers in peanut, 38 of which were used in this study because of their ability in detecting genetic polymorphism among 24 peanut accessions. Eight SSR markers were found useful to classify botanical varieties. Among them, six SSR markers were specific to botanical varieties fastigiata and vulgaris, one to botanical varieties hypogaea and hirsuta, and one to botanical varieties peruviana, and aequatoriana. Also, three of them derived from peanut expressed sequence tags (ESTs) were associated with putative genes. As botanical varieties have different morphological traits and belong to different subspecies in A. hypogaea, these markers might be associated with genes involved in the expression of morphological traits. The results also suggested that SSRs (also called microsatellites) might play a role in shaping evolution of cultivated peanut. Multiplex PCR of botanical variety-specific markers could be applied to facilitate efficient genotyping of the peanut lines.

Background: Genomic research of cultivated peanut has lagged behind other crop species because of the paucity of polymorphic DNA markers found in this crop. It is necessary to identify additional DNA markers for further genetic research in peanut.

Seventy-one amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP), 93 sequence related amplified polymorphism (SRAP), and 14 simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers were used to extend an initial genetic linkage map for watermelon [Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Matsum. & Nakai]. The initial map was based on 151 randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and 30 and inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR) markers. A testcross population previously used for mapping of RAPD and ISSR markers was used in this study: {plant accession Griffin 14113 [C. lanatus var. citroide (L.H. Bailey) Mansf.] × the watermelon cultivar New Hampshire Midget (C. lanatus var. lanatus)} × PI 386015 [C. colocynthis (L.) Schrad.]. The linkage map contains 360 DNA markers distributed on 19 linkage groups, and covers a genetic distance of 1976 cM with an average distance of 5.8 cM between two markers. A genomic DNA clone representing 1-amino-cyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC-) synthase gene, involved in ethylene biosynthesis, was also mapped. As in previous mapping studies for watermelon, a large number of AFLP and SRAP markers were skewed away from the 1:1 segregation ratio, and had to be excluded from the final mapping analysis. The stringent mapping criteria (JoinMap 3.0 mapping program) produced linkage groups with marker order consistent with those reported in previous mapping study for watermelon.

Wide phenotypic diversity exists among American heirloom cultivars of watermelon (Citrullus lanatus var. lanatus). However, in published studies, low or no polymorphism was revealed among those heirlooms using isozyme or randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers. In this study, experiments with inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR) [also known as simple sequence repeat-(SSR-) anchored primers] and amplified fragment-length polymorphism (AFLP) markers produced high polymorphisms among watermelon heirloom cultivars. ISSR (111) and AFLP (118) markers (229 total) identified 80.2% to 97.8% genetic similarity among heirloom cultivars. The phylogenetic relations based on ISSR and AFLP markers are highly consistent with the parental records available for some of the heirloom cultivars, providing confidence in the dendogram constructed for heirlooms based on similarity values. As compared with RAPD markers, ISSRs and AFLPs are highly effective in differentiating among watermelon cultivars or elite lines with limited genetic diversity.

A major challenge for the molecular characterization and evaluation of minor grass species germplasm is the lack of sufficient DNA markers. A set of 210 simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers developed from major cereal crops (self-pollinated wheat and rice, mainly self-pollinated sorghum and out-crossing maize) were evaluated for their transferability to minor grass species (finger millet, Eleusine coracana; seashore paspalum, Paspalum vaginatum; and bermudagrass, Cynodon dactylon). In total, 412 cross-species polymorphic amplicons were identified. Over half of the primers generated reproducible cross-species or cross-genus amplicons. The transfer rate of SSR markers was correlated with the phylogenetic relationship (or genetic relatedness) of these species. The average transfer rate of genomic SSR markers was different from the average transfer rate of expressed sequence tag (EST)-SSR markers. The level of polymorphism was significantly higher among species (67%) than within species (34%), and was related to the degree of out-crossing for each species. The level of polymorphism detected within species was 57% from self-incompatible species, 39% from out-crossing species and 20% from self-pollinated species. Genomic SSRs detected a higher level of polymorphism than EST-SSRs. The use of transferred polymorphic SSR markers for the characterization and evaluation of germplasm is discussed.