Isolation and characterization of 10 microsatellite loci from Korean Leontopodium japonicum (Asteraceae).

Premise Of The Study: Microsatellite primers were developed for the alpine plant Leontopodium japonicum to evaluate its population genetics structure as a means for devising future conservation strategies.

Methods And Results: Ten polymorphic microsatellite markers were developed in Korean populations of L. japonicum. Genetic diversity was analyzed among 38 individuals from two populations. Overall, each locus had 3 to 17 alleles, and their observed and expected heterozygosities ranged from 0.0000 to 0.8750 and from 0.0000 to 0.8929, respectively.

Conclusions: The microsatellite markers described here are valuable tools for population genetics research of L. japonicum. They can be used to obtain information about suitable management strategies for protecting other related and endangered "edelweiss" species.