Application of Simple Sequence Repeat (SSR) Markers for the Discrimination of Korean and Chinese Sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) Accessions

Sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) is an ancient oil seed crop that has been referred to as the ‘queen of oilseeds’ by virtue of its high quality oil. Fourteen simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers were used to differentiate 70 sesame (Sesame indicum L) accessions. Forty-three of the accessions were from Korea and 27 were from China. An initial round of analysis using two SSR markers (GBssr-sa-005 and GBssr-sa-182) identified 21 distinct accessions. A second round of analysis using one additional SSR marker (GBssr-sa-108) identified 25 more distinct accessions. Addition of a fourth SSR marker (GBssr-sa-184) for a third round of analysis identified an additional 20 accessions. This study demonstrates differentiation between 43 accessions from Korea and 23 accessions from China by four SSR markers.