High-Throughput Microsatellite Marker Development for the Distylous Herb Primula mistassinica (Primulaceae)

Premise of the study: Twelve microsatellite markers were developed for Primula mistassinica, a distylous, diploid arctic-alpine plant. The markers will be used to investigate the landscape genetics of a disjunct population on Isle Royale, Michigan, and the phylogeographic patterns of the species. Methods and Results: We used Roche/454 high-throughput technology to sequence microsatellite-enriched regions in the P. mistassinica genome. We developed 12 polymorphic microsatellite primer sets. These loci contained di-, tri-, and tetranucleotide repeats with two to nine alleles per locus when assessed in 23 individuals. Conclusions: Understanding the historical movements of P. mistassinica will provide insight to the survival prospects of current Arctic plant populations, which face the pressures of global, anthropogenic climate change.