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

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.