Isolation and characterization of 15 SSR loci for the endangered European tetraploid species (Iridaceae).

Premise: (Iridaceae) is an endangered European perennial tetraploid herb with special conservation interest in the European Union. Microsatellite markers can serve as effective tools for the conservation genetics of this species.

Methods And Results: We utilized a 454 pyrosequencing approach to identify simple sequence repeat (SSR) regions in a microsatellite-enriched library. Of all SSR regions, 46 were screened for specific PCR amplification, and 15 were found to be applicable in the target species. We found 1.62-3.08 alleles per population (effective alleles: 1.58-2.08) that indicated moderate to high genetic diversity values (0.28-0.44) in three pilot populations. Cross-species amplification was less effective in and .

Conclusions: The primers reported here can be used for the population genetic characterization of . They will help us to better understand the conservation genetics of this highly endangered species.