Characterization of six microsatellite loci in Echium vulgare (Boraginaceae)

Echium vulgare is a tetraploid plant with a very low selfing rate in the field. We suspect that cryptic self incompatibility plays a role in this species. In order to show lower success of self pollen/selfed embryos, after pollination with a mixture of self and outcross pollen, a paternity analysis has to be done. For the purpose of such analysis we developed microsatellites in E. vulgare. In this study, we report on six microsatellite loci which are easy to score, polymorphic, with a number of alleles per locus ranging from two to eight and, therefore, suitable for paternity analysis.