Short note: Development of Six EST-SSR Markers in Larch

Six simple sequence repeats (SSR) markers were developed from expressed sequence tags (ESTs) in the genus Larix. Based on evaluation with 49 L. kaempferi genotypes, the number of alleles per locus ranged from two to four, and the expected (He) and observed (Ho) heterozygosity values were 0.225−0.694 and 0.201−0.656, respectively. The inbreeding coffcient (F_IS) for all loci were less than zero except that LAReSSR85 was 0.4383. All the six EST-SSR markers were transferable to L. gmelini, L. olgensis var Koreana, L. principisrupprechtii and L. olgensis. BlastX analysis showed that five of the EST-SSRs were homologous to known genes. The six EST-SSR markers developed here can be valuable for biological applications in Larix.