Assessment of Two Highly Polymorphic Barley Microsatellite Markers for Detecting Polymorphism in Wheat

Simple sequence repeat (SSR) DNA polymorphism is a PCR-based marker system, also known as the microsatellite marker system. SSRs are tandemly repeated 1 to 5 nucleotide units dispersed throughout eukaryotic genomes. They are considered one of the most powerful molecular markers for many diverse applications in genome related studies, e.g., DNA fingerprinting for discrimination of genotypes and genetic mapping. Locus specificity, co-dominant inheritance and easy detection with PCR amplifications are some of the favorable features of this marker system. On the other hand, isolation of SSR markers depends on time-and labor-consuming processes. The need to obtain sequence information for locus specific primer design is the major drawback. Therefore, the application of SSR markers in a cross-species manner would be valuable. In this study, two highly polymorphic barley SSR markers were used to test the cross transportability and polymorphism property of barley SSR primers on wheat genotypes. The results indicated that barley specific SSR primers could generate PCR amplification products on the wheat genome in the absence of polymorphism.