Microsatellite Markers for Aronia melanocarpa (Black Chokeberry) and Their Transferability to Other Aronia Species

This study reports the development, characterization, and cross-species transferability of 20 genomic microsatellite markers for Aronia melanocarpa, an important nutraceutical fruit crop. The markers were developed with Illumina paired-end genomic sequencing technology using DNA from Professor Ed cultivar that was originally collected from the wild in New Hampshire. The markers were highly polymorphic and transferable to Aronia arbutifolia and Aronia prunifolia genomes. The average number of alleles per locus was 9.1, 4.5, and 5.6 for A. melanocarpa, A. arbutifolia, and A. prunifolia, respectively. The polymorphism information content (PIC) of loci ranged from 0.38 to 0.95 for all taxa, with an average of 0.80, 0.68, and 0.87 for A. melanocarpa, A. arbutifolia, and A. prunifolia, respectively. This is the first study to develop microsatellite markers in the Aronia genus. These markers will be very useful in studying the genetic diversity and population structure of wild Aronia and expediting the breeding efforts of this emerging fruit crop through marker-assisted selection.