Characterisation of EST-SSR markers for Begonia maxwelliana (Begoniaceae) and cross-amplification in 23 species from 7 Asian sections

• Twenty polymorphic EST-SSR markers were developed for Begonia maxwelliana.
• Number of allele per locus ranged from 2 to 10.
• The observed heterozygosity ranged from 0 to 0.767.
• The markers were transferable across 23 other Begonia spp. (50–100% success rate).
• Interspecies transferability was highest within the same section.

Begonias are globally important ornamental plants widely used in cultivation. However, in their native environments, many Begonia species are rare and threatened by deforestation. For example in Peninsular Malaysia, 57% of Begonia species are threatened. Genetic markers, such as cross-amplifiable microsatellites, are important for studying the genetic diversity maintained in populations of rare Begonia species, as well as for assessing diversity in horticultural Begonia. Here, we used a next-generation sequencing approach to develop 20 polymorphic expressed sequence tag-simple sequence repeat (EST-SSR) markers from the transcriptome of Begonia venusta King. We then tested the diversity of the markers in our target species, Begonia maxwelliana King. The number of alleles per locus ranged from 2 to 10 and the observed heterozygosity ranged from 0 to 0.767. We detected seven loci with null alleles. We amplified the markers in 23 other Begonia species, with 50–100% success. These loci will be useful for genetic diversity assessments of threatened and endemic begonias.