Development of EST Based SSR Markers for Garlic Genome

Although it is time consuming and expensive to develop SSR markers, they have some advantages such as co-dominancy, reproducibility and high amount of polymorphic alleles as a PCR based marker system. For genetic and molecular studies in garlic, generally RAPD and AFLP markers have been utilized. However, development and use of SSR markers have been limited to few studies. In order to develop detailed genetic map and genetic studies, co-dominant marker systems like SSRs and SNPs are necessary in garlic. The purpose of this study was the development of SSR markers from expressed sequence tags (ESTs) derived from the genome of garlic. The SSR motifs in EST sequences were screened and it was revealed that SSR motifs are abundant in garlic ESTs. So far six SSR markers have been developed. EST based SSR markers could be used to map genes to garlic genetic maps directly and assessment of genetic diversity for the expressed regions of the garlic genome.