Isolation and characterization of polymorphic microsatellite markers in the endangered species Bretschneidera sinensis Hemsl.

Bretschneidera sinensis is an endangered species that is mainly distributed in South China. As a tertiary relict and the single species in the Bretschneideraceae family, it has a high conservation value. To investigate the influence of human disturbance on its mating system, 63 new microsatellites were developed using restriction-site-associated DNA sequencing and their polymorphisms were tested on 30 samples from one population. Among the 63 microsatellites, the number of alleles per locus ranged from 2 to 16. The observed and expected heterozygosities ranged from 0.133 to 0.967 and from 0.127 to 0.912, respectively. These microsatellites may be used for studying the mating system of B. sinensis as well as the within-population hereditary structure.