High-throughput targeted SSR marker development in peach (Prunus persica)

Simple sequence repeats (SSRs) have proven to be highly polymorphic, easily reproducible, codominant markers. However, developing an SSR map is very time consuming and expensive, and most SSRs are not specifically linked to gene loci of immediate interest. The ideal situation would be to combine a high-throughput, relatively inexpensive mapping technique with rapid identification of SSR loci in mapped regions of interest. For this reason, we coupled the high-throughput technique of AFLP mapping with subsequent direct targeting of SSRs identified in AFLP-marked regions of interest. This approach relied on the availability of peach bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) library resources. We present examples of using this strategy to rapidly identify SSR loci tightly linked to two important, simply inherited traits in peach (Prunus persica (L.) Batsch): root-knot nematode resistance and control of the evergrowing trait. SSRs developed in this study were also tested for their transportability in other Prunus species and in apricots.