Development of New SSR (Simple Sequence Repeat) Markers for Lentils (Lens culinaris Medik.) from Genomic Library Enriched with AG and AC Microsatellites

Simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers are the major molecular tools for genetic and genomic researches that have been extensively developed and used in major crops. However, few are available for lentils (Lens culinaris M.), economically an important cool-season legume. The lack of informative simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers in lentil has been a major limitation for lentil molecular breeding studies. Therefore, in order to develop SSR markers for lentil, an enriched genomic libraries for AC and AG repeats were constructed from the Lens culinaris cv Kafkas. A total of 350 clones were inquired for the detection of SSRs. Of 350 clones, 68 had SSR motifs. In polymorphism analysis using 53 newly developed SSRs, a total of 144 alleles across 24 lentil cultivars were detected with an average of 4.64 per locus. The average heterozygosity was 0.588 and polymorphism information contents ranged from 0.194 to 0.895 with an average value of 0.520. These newly developed SSRs will constitute useful tools for molecular breeding, mapping, and assessments of genetic diversity and population structure of lentils.