NEW MICROSATELLITE MARKERS FOR THE RARE PLANT CERCIDIPHYLLUM JAPONICUM AND THEIR UTILITY FOR CERCIDIPHYLLUM MAGNIFICUM

Premise of the study: Microsatellite markers were developed for Cercidiphyllum japonicum to study population genetics of this endangered species native to both eastern China and Japan. Methods and Results: Using the Fast Isolation by AFLP of Sequences Containing Repeats (FIASCO) protocol, 12 microsatellite markers that were successfully amplified showed polymorphism when tested on 33 individuals from two populations in eastern China and Japan. Overall, the number of alleles per locus ranged between 5 and 18. Eleven markers could be easily amplified and were polymorphic in C. magnificum. Conclusions: These results indicate that these microsatellite markers are adequate for detecting and characterizing population genetic structure in Cercidiphyllum at fine and range-wide geographical scales.