Development of EST derived microsatellite markers in chickpea and their validation in diversity analysis

Microsatellites are widely used as genetic markers because they are co-dominant, multi-allelic, easily scorable and highly polymorphic. In order to enhance availability of genomic resources, microsatellite loci were identified from chickpea (Cicer arietinum L), the third most important grain legume in the world. A total of 20 SSR markers were developed from EST clones of wilt resistant cultivar (JG 315) of chickpea. Chickpea varieties (15) were analyzed for genetic diversity with these markers, which produced a total of 35 alleles with a mean of 1.5 alleles per primer. About 5 markers were polymorphic in the selected genotypes and observed heterozygosity ranged from 0.12 to 0.87 with an average of 0.32. These microsatellite markers will be useful in diversity analysis, mapping agronomically important traits and marker assisted breeding in chickpea.