Characterisation of 13 polymorphic simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers for cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz)

I. Siti Norhayati, N.S. Nasarudin, A.R. Shahril Firdaus, M.Y. Muhammad Fairuz and
J. Mohd Azwan

Abstract
Cassava is widely cultivated as an annual crop for carbohydrates source in tropical and subtropical regions. It provides food security against famine due to its inherent tolerance to stressful environments. The present study aims to provide preliminary information on 13 polymorphic SSR markers to both researchers and breeders, as it is essentially useful to manage their breeding program. These 13 SSR markers displayed a wide range of polymorphism whereby the number of alleles ranged from 2 (SSRY106) to 10 (SSRY324) with an average of 5.5 alleles per locus. The highest polymorphism information content (PIC) is shown in marker SSRY324 with the value of 0.9999, while SSRY106 showed the lowest value of 0.3893. The observed and expected heterozygosity varied from 0.2549 to 0.9391, and 0.3902 to 0.8192 with an average of 0.6309 and 0.6067, respectively. These markers indicated sufficient levels of polymorphism that could further be employed in studies on population and genetic variation, as well as cultivar identification of cassava in Malaysia.

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