Isolation and characterization of microsatellite markers for Jasminum sambac (Oleaceae) using Illumina shotgun sequencing(1)

PREMISE OF THE STUDY: Microsatellite markers of Jasminum sambac (Oleaceae) were isolated to investigate wild germplasm resources and provide markers for breeding. METHODS AND RESULTS: Illumina sequencing was used to isolate microsatellite markers from the transcriptome of J. sambac. A total of 1322 microsatellites were identified from 49,772 assembled unigenes. One hundred primer pairs were randomly selected to verify primer amplification efficiency. Out of these tested primer pairs, 31 were successfully amplified: 18 primer pairs yielded a single allele, seven exhibited fixed heterozygosity with two alleles, and only six displayed polymorphisms. CONCLUSIONS: This study obtained the first set of microsatellite markers for J. sambac, which will be helpful for the assessment of wild germplasm resources and the development of molecular marker–assisted breeding.