Development and characterization of nuclear microsatellite markers in Aphananthe aspera (Thunb.) Planch. (Cannabaceae)

Abstract

Nuclear microsatellite markers were developed for Aphananthe aspera (Thunb.) Planch. (Cannabaceae), a deciduous canopy tree species distributed in East Asia, to evaluate the genetic diversity and genetic structure of A. aspera populations in remnant forest fragments in urbanized areas of Japan. A total of 94 primer pairs were designed based on genomic sequence data. Of the 25 primer pairs which showed clear microsatellite peaks, 20 pairs showed allelic polymorphisms in 57 individuals collected from two distant populations. The length of PCR products ranged from 120 to 482 bp, and expected heterozygosity for the 20 microsatellite markers ranged from 0.017 to 0.768. These newly developed simple sequence repeat markers will be used in population genetic studies of A. aspera to evaluate genetic diversity and the extent of genetic isolation of the fragmented populations in urban areas.