DEVELOPMENT OF THE FIRST CHLOROPLAST MICROSATELLITE LOCI IN GINKGO BILOBA (GINKGOACEAE)

Premise of the study: To investigate population genetics, phylogeography, and cultivar origin of Ginkgo biloba, chloroplast microsatellite primers were developed. Methods and Results: Twenty-one chloroplast microsatellite markers were identified referring to the two published chloroplast genomes of G. biloba. Polymorphisms were assessed on four natural populations from the two refugia in China. Eight loci were detected to be polymorphic in these populations. The number of alleles per locus ranged from three to seven, and the unbiased haploid diversity per locus varied from 0.441 to 0.807. Conclusions: For the first time, we developed 21 chloroplast microsatellite markers for G. biloba, including 13 monomorphic and eight polymorphic ones within the assessed natural populations. These markers should provide a powerful tool for the study of genetic variation of both natural and cultivated populations of G. biloba, as well as cultivars.