Isolation and characterization of polymorphic microsatellite loci from aerial yam (Dioscorea bulbifera L.)

Dioscorea bulbifera L. is widely distributed in pantropical regions along the equator. The taxonomic treatment of this species is ambiguous due to its extreme polymorphic morphological characters. In order to provide tools to facilitate the study of genetic diversity, population structure, patterns of gene flow, and the mating system of this species, and to assess intraspecific variability and relationships in D. bulbifera, 14 novel polymorphic microsatellite loci were developed using the dual-suppression PCR technique. The number of alleles per locus ranged from 4 to 17, with an average of 9.93. The mean observed heterozygosities were 0.7327 and 0.7223, and the mean Shannon-Wiener indices were 1.6431 and 1.811 in the Nanjing and Nanchong populations, respectively. All novel microsatellite loci showed high levels of polymorphism, indicating that these markers offer great potential significance and profound influence for future studies of this species.