Premise of the study: Novel markers were developed for pea (Pisum sativum) from pea expressed sequence tags (ESTs) having significant homology to Medicago truncatula gene sequences to investigate genetic diversity, linkage mapping, and cross-species transferability. •
Methods and results: Seventy-seven EST-derived genic markers were developed through comparative mapping between M. truncatula and P. sativum in which 75 markers produced PCR products and 33 were polymorphic among 16 pea genotypes. •
Conclusions: The novel markers described here will be useful for future genetic studies of P. sativum; their amplification in lentil (Lens culinaris) demonstrates their potential for use in closely related species.
Keywords: comparative mapping; expressed sequence tags; lentil; marker-assisted selection; pea; synteny.