Vetch (Vicia sativa L.) is one of the most important annual forage legumes in the World due to its multiple uses (i.e., hay, grain, silage and green manure) and high nutritional value. However, detrimental cyanoalanine toxins in its plant parts including seeds and its vulnerability to hard winter conditions are currently reducing the agronomic values of vetch varieties. Moreover, the existence in the public domain of very few genomic resources, especially molecular markers, has further hampered breeding efforts. Polymorphic simple sequence repeat markers from transcript sequences (cDNA; simple sequence repeat [SSR]) were developed for Vicia sativa subsp. sativa. We found 3,811 SSR loci from 31,504 individual sequence reads, and 300 primer pairs were designed and synthesized. In total, 65 primer pairs were found to be consistently scorable when 32 accessions were tested. The numbers of alleles ranged from 2 to 19, frequency of major alleles per locus were 0.27-0.87, the genotype number was 2-19, the overall polymorphism information content (PIC) values were 0.20-0.86, and the observed and expected heterozygosity values were 0.00-0.41 and 0.264-0.852, respectively. These markers provide a useful tool for assessing genetic diversity, population structure, and positional cloning, facilitating vetch breeding programs.

Faba bean (Vicia faba L.) is a major food source and fodder legume, popularly known for its high content of seed-protein. Its role is critical in crop rotation, and for fixing nitrogen effectively. Polymorphic simple sequence repeat markers from transcript sequences (cDNA; simple sequence repeat [SSR]) were developed for faba bean (Vicia faba). We found that 1,729 SSR loci from 81,333 individual sequence reads and 240 primer pairs were designed and synthesized. In total, 55 primer pairs were found to be polymorphic and scorable consistently when screened in 32 accessions. The number of alleles ranged from 2 to 15, frequency of major alleles per locus varied from 0.17 to 0.91, the genotypes number ranged from 2 to 17, observed and expected heterozycosity values ranged from 0.00 to 0.44 and 0.17 to 0.89 and overall PIC values ranged from 0.16 to 0.88 respectively. These markers will be a useful tool for assessing the genetic diversity, understanding the population structure, and breeding patterns of faba bean.

No abstract