Development of simple sequence repeat markers for bermudagrass from bermudagrass EST sequences and preexisting sorghum SSR markers

Scope and Method of Study. The purpose of this study was to develop simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers for bermudagrass by transferring sorghum genomic SSR primers and exploring expressed sequence tag (EST) sequences from NCBI database. Four bermudagrass genotypes were used. SSR Locator program was run to detect SSR and design the primers. After DNA was amplified by PCR, all products were visualized by gel electrophoresis on Li-Cor 4300 DNA Analyzer. Reproducible bands were scored and analyzed.Findings and Conclusions. Transferability of 354 sorghum SSRs to bermudagrass was highest (57%, 203 of 354 markers) for C. transvaalensis 'T577' than for C. dactylon 'Tifton 10' (30%) and 'Zebra' (25%). In total, 65 sorghum genomic SSR primer pairs generated putative SSR markers for all three bermudagrass genotypes. From 20,237 Cynodon EST sequences at National Center for Biotechnology Information, 303 designed SSR primer pairs were able to amplify target markers in at least one of four bermudagrass genotypes including C. dactylon var. aridus, C. transvaalensis 'T577', C. dactylon cv. 'Tifton 10', C. dactylon var. dactylon 'Zebra', and 230 primer pairs produced reproducible bands in all of the four genotypes.