Interspecific detection of polymorphism using sequence tagged microsatellites (STMS) in chickpea

Chickpea is an important grain legume of the semiarid tropics and warm temperate zones, and form one of the major components of human diet. Genetic mapping in chickpea was initially hampered due to limited availability of genomic resources and early reliance on dominant markers. The development of STMS and other co-dominant markers has greatly improved our understanding of the chickpea genome. In the present study a set of 129 F6:7 recombinant inbred lines (RILs) obtained from an interspecific cross of Cicer arietinum ((ICC4958, resistant) × Cicer reticulatum (ICC489777, susceptible) was used to analyze genetic diversity pattern using twenty five polymorphic STMS markers. Since the accession ICC4958 is resistant to Fusarium oxysporum, and parental line ICC489777 is susceptible, the segregation of underlying resistance loci could also be followed along with the evaluation of genetic diversity and molecular mapping in chickpea using these polymorphic markers.