title: Development and characterization of EST-SSR markers in Bombax ceiba (Malvaceae).
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Bombax ceiba (Malvaceae), commonly known as silk cotton tree, is a multipurpose tree species of tropical forests. Novel expressed sequence tag-simple sequence repeat (EST-SSR) markers were developed and characterized for the species using transcriptome analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 33 new EST-SSR markers were developed for B. ceiba, of which 13 showed polymorphisms across the 24 individuals from four distant populations tested in the study. The results showed that the number of alleles per polymorphic locus ranged from two to four, and the expected heterozygosity and observed heterozygosity per locus varied from 0.043 to 0.654 and from 0 to 0.609, respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These newly developed EST-SSR markers can be used in phylogeographic and population genetic studies to investigate the origin of B. ceiba populations. Furthermore, these EST-SSR markers could also greatly promote the development of molecular breeding studies pertaining to silk cotton tree.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Biodiversity Conservation in Southwest China, State Forestry Administration, Southwest Forestry University, Kunming 650224, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Miao-Miao
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Ju
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Biodiversity Conservation in Southwest China, State Forestry Administration, Southwest Forestry University, Kunming 650224, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Huan-Cheng
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Biodiversity Conservation in Southwest China, State Forestry Administration, Southwest Forestry University, Kunming 650224, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Pei-Yao
authors.initials: PY
authors.lastname: Xin
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Biodiversity Conservation in Southwest China, State Forestry Administration, Southwest Forestry University, Kunming 650224, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Zhi-Li
authors.initials: ZL
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Biodiversity Conservation in Southwest China, State Forestry Administration, Southwest Forestry University, Kunming 650224, People's Republic of China ; Key Laboratory of Biodiversity and Biogeography, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650204, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Tian
keywords: Bombax ceiba; EST-SSR; Malvaceae; transcriptome