Premise of the study: Simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers were developed for faba bean using expressed sequence tags (ESTs) from the NCBI database to study for genetic diversity. •
Methods and results: A total of 11 novel EST-SSR loci were generated and characterized when tested on four populations of 29 faba bean individuals from China and Europe. The number of alleles (A) ranged from 1 to 3 in each population, and observed heterozygosity (H(O)) and expected heterozygosity (H(E)) ranged from 0 to 0.5000 and 0.6400, respectively. Furthermore, transferable analysis revealed that eight of these loci (72.73%) amplified in Pisum sativum L., six of which (75.00%) detected polymorphism. •
Conclusions: The developed markers in this study will provide valuable tools for genetic diversity, resource conservation, genetic mapping, and marker-assisted breeding of faba bean in the future.