Identification and characterization of microsatellite loci in the common fig (Ficus carica L.) and representative species of the genus Ficus

We developed microsatellites in fig (Ficus carica L.). A TC and TG-enriched genomic library was screened, and after sequencing, primers were designed for 20 microsatellites. Eight primer pairs produced amplification products that were both interpretable and polymorphic in 14 fig cultivars and two French wild-growing populations of F. carica (n(1) = 9 and n(2) = 10). Number of alleles per locus ranged from three to six. Except for one microsatellite locus, the observed heterozygosity was higher than the expected value. The F. carica microsatellites gave amplification products in 17 other Ficus species in 86% of the cases.