Cross-Amplification of Vicia sativa subsp. sativa Microsatellites Across 22 Other Vicia Species

The temperate and herbaceous genus Vicia L. is a member of the legume tribe Vicieae of the subfamily Papilionoideae. The genus Vicia comprises 166 annual or perennial species distributed mainly in Europe, Asia, and North America, also extending to the temperate regions of South America and tropical. However, utilization of SSR markers have not been investigated as extensively in Vicia species as compared to other crop species. Here, we have assessed the potential for cross-species amplification of cDNA microsatellites markers developed from common vetch (Vicia sativa subsp. sativa). For cross-species amplification of the SSRs, amplification was carried out with selected from two to 10 accessions of 22 different Vicia species. For individual species or subspecies, the successful amplification rate ranged from 75.5% in V. sativa subsp. sativa to 26.1% in V. articulate, with average of 48.8%. As the rate of successful amplification of SSR markers generally correlates with genetic distance, these SSR markers are potentially useful in the analysis of genetic relationships between or within Vicia species.