Development of microsatellite markers for the guava rust fungus, Puccinia psidii

Abstract

We developed and characterized 15 polymorphic microsatellite markers present in the genome of the guava rust fungus, Puccinia psidii. The primers for these microsatellite markers were designed by sequencing clones from a genomic DNA library enriched for a simple sequence repeat (SSR) motif of (AG). All these 15 primer pairs successfully amplified DNA fragments from a sample of 22 P. psidii isolates, revealing a total of 71 alleles. The observed heterozygosity at the 15 loci ranged from 0.05 to 1.00. The SSR markers developed would be useful for population genetics study of the rust fungus.