Development of Simple Sequence Repeat (SSR) Markers in Saffron

Crocus L. belongs to Iridaceae family, Ixioideae subfamily and it’s gene center is Southwest Anatolia. The well-known and cultivated species of the Crocus is Crocus sativus L. and it is called Saffron. Annual production of Saffron in the World is approximately 220 tons. Iran has 90% of the production; Greece, Spain, Italy and India share the rest of 10%. Saffron is produced very little amount in small fields in Kütahya, Safranbolu and Ş. Urfa in Turkey. Microsatellites are co-dominant and highly variable genetic markers that are widely used in population genetic studies. However, limited SSR markers were so far developed for saffron. Therefore, the objective of this project was to produce a set of highly informative, reproducible microsatellite markers for Saffron. A total of 480 clones were sequenced from four microsatellites enriched libraries. Around two hundred clones contained unique microsatellites. Flanking primers were designed for the microsatellite loci and will be screened on a panel of saffron accessions.