BipolarisSSRDb: an integrated microsatellite marker resource for genomic insights into Bipolaris genus, pathogenic...

Bipolaris species are major fungal pathogens responsible for foliar blights in cereals, notably B. sorokiniana, B. maydis, and B. oryzae. Despite their substantial negative impact in crops, molecular markers such as Simple Sequence Repeats (SSR) have remained scarce for this genus, limiting progress in population genetics, epidemiological surveillance, virulence which indirectly could affect breeding for disease resistance. Here, we present BipolarisSSRDb, an indigenously developed, web-based SSR marker database for the Bipolaris genus. The database integrates 12,382 SSR loci mined from genome assemblies of three key species, along with locus-specific primers, motif details, and genomic context. The architecture of the database supports intuitive browsing, visualization, and primer retrieval. Experimental validation confirmed specificity and polymorphism for many of the selected markers. BipolarisSSRDb enables high-throughput marker selection for diagnostics including strain differentiation, and population studies. To the best of our knowledge, BipolarisSSRDb represents the first dedicated SSR marker database developed exclusively for Bipolaris species, providing a genome-wide SSR loci and primer information, for genomics research in India. The database is freely accessible at www.biopolarisdb.fwh.is.