ISOLATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF POLYMORPHIC MICROSATELLITE LOCI IN SELLIERA RADICANS (GOODENIACEAE)

Premise of the study: Microsatellite markers were developed for species in the genus Selliera (Goodeniaceae) for future investigations of population genetic structure and interspecific hybridization within the genus. Methods and Results: Using 454 pyrosequencing, 15 new markers were developed from microsatellite loci isolated from S. radicans. Primers for the new markers amplify di- and trinucleotide repeat loci from the three Selliera species screened. Ten of the new markers are polymorphic in S. radicans and six of those 10 loci were found to be polymorphic within each congener. For the focal species, S. radicans, the average number of alleles per locus is 3.7 (SE = 0.60) and the average observed and expected heterozygosities are 0.23 (SE = 0.07) and 0.47 (SE = 0.08), respectively. Conclusions: The new markers provide an important resource for future investigations in the genus Selliera for both population genetics and research into hybridization between species.