Background: Genomic research of cultivated peanut has lagged behind other crop species because of the paucity of polymorphic DNA markers found in this crop. It is necessary to identify additional DNA markers for further genetic research in peanut.
Results: Microsatellite markers in cultivated peanut were developed using the SSR enrichment procedure. The results showed that the GA/CT repeat was the most frequently dispersed microsatellite in peanut. The primer pairs were designed for fifty-six different microsatellites, 19 of which showed a polymorphism among the genotypes studied. The average number of alleles per locus was 4.25, and up to 14 alleles were found at one locus. This suggests that microsatellite DNA markers produce a higher level of DNA polymorphism than other DNA markers in cultivated peanut.
Conclusions: It is desirable to isolate and characterize more DNA markers in cultivated peanut for more productive genomic studies, such as genetic mapping, marker-assisted selection, and gene discovery. The development of microsatellite markers holds a promise for such studies.