Development of SSR Markers for a Phytopathogenic Fungus, Blumeria graminis f.sp. tritici, Using a FIASCO Protocol

Simple sequence repeats (SSR) have been widely used as molecular markers due to their abundance and high polymorphism. However, up to now, the SSR markers had not been developed in the obligate biotrophic phytopathogenic fungus, Blumeria graminis f.sp. tritici. From (AC)10 and (AG)10 enriched genomic libraries for Bgt, 25 primer pairs were designed using the FIASCO (fast isolation by AFLP of sequences containing repeats) protocol. Five primer pairs exhibited polymorphism with allelic diversity from two to seven alleles and produced 29 alleles in a survey of 90 isolates collected from six provinces (cities) in China, while the others displayed monomorphic. Levels of observed heterozygosity ranged from 0.000-0.044 (mean 0.025) and expected heterozygosity ranged from 0.297-0.816 (mean 0.538). These molecular markers provide a novel source to genetic diversity assays and to genetic and physical mapping of Bgt. SSR markers of Bgt need to be further explored.