A consensus list of microsatellite markers for olive genotyping Luciana Baldoni Æ Nicolo ` G. Cultrera Æ Roberto Mariotti Æ Claudia Ricciolini Æ Sergio Arcioni Æ Giovanni G. Vendramin Æ Anna Buonamici Æ Andrea Porceddu Æ Vania Sarri Æ Maria A. Ojeda Æ Isabel Trujillo Æ Luis Rallo Æ Angjelina Belaj Æ Enzo Perri Æ Amelia Salimonti Æ Innocenzo Muzzalupo Æ Alberto Casagrande Æ Orietta Lain Æ Rachele Messina Æ Raffaele Testolin Received: 4 January 2009 / Accepted: 9 April 2009 / Published online: 13 May 2009 Ó Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2009 Abstract Cultivar identification is a primary con- cern for olive growers, breeders, and scientists. This study was aimed at examining the SSR markers retrieved from the literature and currently used in olive study, in order to select those most effective in characterizing the olive accessions and to make possible the comparison of data obtained by different laboratories. Olive microsatellite profiles were assessed by four independent laboratories, which analyzed 37 pre-selected SSR loci on a set of 21 cultivars. These SSR markers were initially tested for their reproducibility, power of discrimi- nation and number of amplified loci/alleles. Inde- pendent segregation was tested for each pair of SSRs in a controlled cross and the allelic error rate was quantified. Some of them were finally selected as the most informative and reliable. Most of the alleles were sequenced and their sizes were deter- mined. Profiles of the reference cultivars and a list of alleles with their sizes obtained by sequencing are reported. Several genetic parameters have been analysed on a larger set of cultivars allowing for a deeper characterization of the selected loci. Results Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s11032-009-9285-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. L. Baldoni (&) Á N. G. Cultrera Á R. Mariotti Á C. Ricciolini Á S. Arcioni CNR-Istituto di Genetica Vegetale, 06128 Perugia, Italy e-mail: luciana.baldoni@igv.cnr.it G. G. Vendramin Á A. Buonamici CNR-Istituto di Genetica Vegetale, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino (Firenze), Italy A. Porceddu DSGVA, University of Sassari, 07100 Sassari, Italy V. Sarri Dipartimento di Biologia Cellulare e Ambientale, Sez. Biologia Cellulare e Molecolare, University of Perugia, 06100 Perugia, Italy M. A. Ojeda Á I. Trujillo Á L. Rallo Departamento de Agronomı ´a, Campus Universitario de Rabanales, University of Co ´rdoba, 14080 Co ´rdoba, Spain A. Belaj Centro ‘‘Alameda del Obispo’’-IFAPA, 14083 Co ´rdoba, Spain E. Perri Á A. Salimonti Á I. Muzzalupo CRA-Centro di Ricerca per l’Olivicoltura e l’Industria Olearia, 87036 Rende (CS), Italy I. Muzzalupo CRA-Centro di Ricerca per le Produzioni Foraggere e Lattiero-Casearie, 26900 Lodi, Italy A. Casagrande Á R. Testolin Istituto di Genomica Applicata, Parco Scientifico e Tecnologico, 33100 Udine, Italy O. Lain Á R. Messina Á R. Testolin Dipartimento di Scienze Agrarie e Ambientali, University of Udine, 33100 Udine, Italy 123 Mol Breeding (2009) 24:213–231 DOI 10.1007/s11032-009-9285-8