Characterization of seashore paspalum (Paspalum vaginatum Swartz) germplasm by transferred SSRs from wheat, maize and sorghum M.L. Wang 1, *, Z.B. Chen 2 , N.A. Barkley 1 , M.L. Newman 1 , W. Kim 2 , P. Raymer 2 and G.A. Pederson 1 1 USDA-ARS, Plant Genetic Resources Conservation Unit, 1109 Experiment Street, Griffin, GA 30223, USA; 2 Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, University of Georgia, 1109 Experiment Street, Griffin, GA 30223, USA; *Author for correspondence (e-mail: mwang@ars-grin.gov; phone: +1-770-229-3342; fax: +1-770- 229-3323) Received 17 June 2004; accepted in revised form 15 October 2004 Key words: Characterization, Germplasm, Paspalum, SSR, Transferability Abstract One hundred and thirty SSR markers from wheat, maize and sorghum were screened for the transferability to Paspalum. The transfer rate was 67.5, 49.0 and 66.8% respectively. This would be a very efficient approach for DNA marker development for species which are not well studied molecularly. The poly- morphism level for transferred SSR markers was 51.5% within species (Paspalum vaginatum) and 87.1% among Paspalum species. The high level of polymorphism is directly related to the high degree of het- erozygosity maintained by its way of reproduction, i.e. self-incompatibility. Forty transferred polymorphic SSR markers were selected and used for characterization and evaluation of seventy-three Paspalum accessions. In total, 209 polymorphic bands were detected from these 40 SSR markers, with an average of five polymorphic bands per marker. The Paspalum accessions clustered into three major groups. Two very similar dendrograms can be generated from either 109 or 209 polymorphic bands. This led us to determine that 18 of the transferred SSR markers were sufficient for genetically differentiating the investigated germplasm accessions. The number of SSR markers required for germplasm characterization and evalu- ation is discussed. This is the first report of the transfer of SSR markers from major field crops to newly emerged environmental turfgrasses. Introduction Seashore paspalum (Paspalum vaginatum Swartz, 2n = 2x = 20), also known as siltgrass, sand knotgrass or saltwater couch in Australia, is an ecologically aggressive, fast-growing, self-incom- patible and warm-season perennial grass. Paspa- lum is a large genus, occurring wild on seacoasts in both hemispheres, and contains more than 400 species. Seashore paspalum evolved from sandy dunes and can grow well in high-salt watered, waterlogged or sand-warmed conditions. Due to these unique growing features, it would be a good model plant for the study of salt- and drought- tolerance (Duncan and Carrow 2000a). A nutrient/ sand culture system has been used to grow seashore paspalum ecotypes under greenhouse conditions with salinity treatments ranging from 1.1 to 49.7 dS m À1 and many seashore paspalum eco- types exhibited diverse and halophytic growth Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution (2006) 53: 779–791 Ó Springer 2006 DOI 10.1007/s10722-004-5540-3