DEVELOPMENT OF EST-SSR MARKERS IN PISTACHIO

Despite the fact that Expressed sequence tag EST-SSR markers have become one of the most preferred DNA molecular markers, only a limited number of EST-SSR molecular markers (14 EST-SSRs) is available for the genome of pistachio (Pistacia vera L.). To generate new EST-SSRs for the pistachio genome, 1330 pistachio expressed ESTs at the publicly available NCBI database were searched for SSR motifs. The minimum repeat units criteria was ten for mono-nucleotide repeats (MNR), six for dinucleotide repeats (DNR), five for tri-nucleotide repeats (TNR), tetra-nucleotide repeats (TrNR), penta-nucleotide repeats (PNR), and hexa-nucleotide repeats (HNR). A total of 464 SSR motifs spanning 808095 bp were identified in 397 ESTs and primer pairs were designed for 48 SSR motifs. These EST-SSRs will not only increase the EST-SSRs limited availability in pistachio but also facilitate analyses of genetic diversity, population structure, and marker-assisted breeding programs of pistachio (Pistacia vera L.).