Microsatellite primers for the Pacific Northwest conifer Callitropsis nootkatensis (Cupressaceae).

Premise Of The Study: Microsatellite primers were developed for Nootka cypress (Callitropsis nootkatensis) to provide quantitative measures for gene conservation that can assist in guiding management decisions for a species experiencing climate-induced decline. •

Methods And Results: Using multiplexed massively parallel sequencing, we identified 136,785 microsatellite-containing sequences from 489,625 Illumina paired-end 80-bp reads. After stringent filtering, we selected 144 primer pairs and screened variation at these loci in five populations of C. nootkatensis. Loci show between three and 36 dinucleotide repeats per locus, with an average of 13. Screening of these markers in the Pacific Northwest relative Chamaecyparis lawsoniana demonstrated no marker transferability. This finding highlights the narrow taxonomic utility of microsatellite markers in Callitropsis. •

Conclusions: These microsatellites show high polymorphism and can be used for routine screening of natural variation in Callitropsis nootkatensis, and will be particularly helpful in identifying clones and inbred relatives at the stand-level.