Development and characterization of nuclear microsatellite markers in the endophytic fungus Epichloë festucae (Clavicipitaceae)

Abstract

• Premise of the study: Microsatellite primers were developed for the endophytic fungus Epichloë festucae , which is symbiotic with Festuca rubra , to study the population genetics of the species and to compare population structures between E. festucae and its host F. rubra . • Methods and Results: We developed 14 polymorphic markers using the unplaced genomic scaffold sequences of E. festucae from GenBank. The number of alleles per locus ( A ) varied from four to 16, and unbiased haploid diversity ( h ) was 0.717 in eight populations located in the Faroe Islands, Finland, and Spain. The Spanish populations possessed a higher number of alleles and haploid diversity (on average A = 5.1 and h = 0.591, respectively) compared to northern populations (on average A = 1.5 and h = 0.199, respectively). • Conclusions: These polymorphic markers will be used by grass breeders for uses including the improvement of commercial turfgrass cultivars, and by population geneticists to study different species of the Epichloë genus.