Genomic and EST microsatellites for Rhododendron aureum (Ericaceae) and cross-amplification in other congeneric species.

Premise Of The Study: Our objective of this study was to develop genomic and expressed sequence tag (EST)-derived microsatellites for the endangered species Rhododendron aureum and access their transferability in R. dauricum and R. brachycarpum. •

Methods And Results: Twelve genomic microsatellites were isolated in R. aureum using the Fast Isolation by AFLP of Sequences Containing repeats (FIASCO) protocol and seven EST-derived microsatellites were characterized by screening the Rhododendron dbEST database of GenBank. The number of alleles per locus ranged from one to eight. The observed and expected heterozygosity varied from 0.00 to 1.00 and from 0.00 to 0.73, respectively. •

Conclusions: A total of 19 microsatellite loci were developed for R. aureum. Sixteen and 10 of these loci were successfully amplified in R. brachycarpum and R. dauricum, respectively. These microsatellite markers will have potential applications in genetic diversity and conservation genetics studies.