CHARACTERIZATION AND MULTIPLEXING OF EST-SSR PRIMERS IN CYNODON (POACEAE) SPECIES

Premise of the study: Cynodon species are multiple-use grasses that display varying levels of adaptation to biotic and abiotic stress. Previously identified EST-SSR primers were characterized and multiplexed to assess the level of genetic diversity present within a collection of almost 1200 Cynodon accessions from across Australia. Methods and Results: Two multiplex reactions were developed comprising a total of 16 EST-SSR markers. All SSR markers amplified across different Cynodon species and different levels of ploidy. The number of alleles ranged from one to eight per locus and the total number of alleles for the germplasm collection was 79. Conclusions: The 16 markers show sufficient variation for the characterization of Cynodon core collections and analysis of population genetic diversity in Cynodon grasses.