Development of microsatellite markers in Abies nordmanniana (Stev.) Spach and cross-species amplification in the Abies genus

Abies nordmanniana (Stev.) Spach is a widely grown Christmas tree in Denmark, from where it is exported to most of Europe. An ongoing breeding programme is taking place, and as a tool for that, we report the development of five polymorphic nuclear microsatellite markers. To investigate the potential for transferring the markers to other species in the Abies genus, polymerase chain reaction amplification was tested in 19 other species. In general, amplification occurred in a very high proportion of the tested species.