Cross-species amplification of eucalyptus SSR markers in Casuarinaceae

Cross-species amplification of Simple Sequence Repeats (SSRs) loci is considered as a cost-effective approach for developing microsatellite markers for new species. We examined the transferability of eucalyptus SSR loci to the economically important members of the Casuarinaceae family. Ten primer pairs targeting (GA)n, (CTT)n, (TGA)n and (GAA)n motifs were screened in Allocasuarina littoralis, A. luehmannii, Casuarina glauca and C. equisetifolia. Up to 30% of the eucalyptus primer pairs amplified SSRs within Casuarinaceae. Nevertheless, in Allocasuarina no amplification products were observed. In Casuarina species, all the locus specific products were monomorphic while few nonspecific bands also amplified.