Characterization of microsatellite loci in the lichen-forming fungus Cetraria aculeata (Parmeliaceae, Ascomycota)1

PREMISE OF THE STUDY Polymorphic microsatellite markers were developed for the lichen species Cetraria aculeata (Parmeliaceae) to study fine-scale population diversity and phylogeographic structure. METHODS AND RESULTS Using Illumina HiSeq and MiSeq, 15 fungus-specific microsatellite markers were developed and tested on 81 specimens from four populations from Spain. The number of alleles ranged from four to 13 alleles per locus with a mean of 7.9, and average gene diversities varied from 0.40 to 0.73 over four populations. The amplification rates of 10 markers (CA01-CA10) in populations of C. aculeata exceeded 85%. The markers also amplified across a range of closely related species, except for locus CA05, which did not amplify in C. australiensis and C. "panamericana," and locus CA10 which did not amplify in C. australiensis. CONCLUSIONS The identified microsatellite markers will be used to study the genetic diversity and phylogeographic structure in populations of C. aculeata in western Eurasia.