No Variation at 29 Microsatellites in the Genome of Jatropha curcas

Genetic variation in the genome of a given species is the basis for natural selection and genetic improvement through selective breeding. We applied 29 microsatellites located on 11 linkage groups to study genetic variation in 276 accessions of J. curcas collected from nine locations in five countries in South America, Asia and Africa to initiate a breeding program. To our surprise, we did not detect any genetic diversity at all 29 microsatellites loci. All the 276 accessions were homozygous at all loci and shared the same genotype at each locus, suggesting no microsatellite variation in the genome of Jatropha curcas. This result is quite unusual, and may have a profound influence on the breeding strategies and genome study of this species.