DEVELOPMENT OF MICROSATELLITES FOR VERBENOXYLUM REITZII (VERBENACEAE), A TREE ENDEMIC TO THE BRAZILIAN ATLANTIC FOREST

Premise of the study: Microsatellite markers were developed for Verbenoxylum reitzii (Verbenaceae), a tree endemic to the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, to investigate their usefulness in population genetic studies. The loci were tested for cross-amplification in the related genera Recordia and Duranta. Methods and Results: Eleven polymorphic microsatellite markers were isolated from an enriched library of V. reitzii and characterized. The primers were tested on 60 individuals from three populations of this species. The number of alleles per locus ranged from two to 11, and the observed and expected heterozygosities varied from 0.0 to 1.0 and from 0.088 to 0.758, respectively. Ten loci successfully amplified in R. boliviana and all failed in D. vestita. Conclusions: Our results suggest the usefulness of the microsatellite loci developed here to access genetic variability for phylogeographic and population genetic studies in V. reitzii, which are important for the conservation of this rare species.