Isolation of microsatellite loci in the African tree species Staudtia kamerunensis (Myristicaceae) using high-throughput sequencing

Staudtia kamerunensis (Myristicaceae) or 'Niov,' is an evergreen tree widespread in Central African moist forests. The bark and seeds are used in traditional medicine, yet the tree is mainly harvested for its high quality, multi-purpose timber. To facilitate sustainable harvesting and conservation of the species, we aim to develop microsatellite markers that can be used to study the mating system, gene flow, genetic diversity and population structure. Genomic DNA of S. kamerunensis was sequenced on an Illumina MiSeq platform, generating 195,720 paired-end reads with 3671 sequences containing microsatellites. Amplification tests resulted in the development of 16 highly polymorphic microsatellite loci of which 14 were tested in 183 individuals of S. kamerunensis from three populations. The number of detected alleles per locus ranged from 15 to 39 and the average observed and expected heterozygosity across loci and populations were Ho = 0.713 (0.14-0.97) and He = 0.879 (0.19-0.95) respectively. The high levels of polymorphism observed in the newly developed microsatellite markers demonstrate their usefulness to study gene flow, population structure and spatial distribution of genetic diversity in S. kamerunensis.