Chloroplast microsatellite markers for the mangrove tree species Bruguiera gymnorrhiza, Kandelia candel, and Rhizophora stylosa, and cross-amplification in other mangrove species

Chloroplast microsatellite (cpSSR) markers were developed for three ecologically and economically important tree species in the mangrove family, Rhizophoraceae: Bruguiera gymnorrhiza, Kandelia candel, and Rhizophora stylosa. Noncoding regions of chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) from each species were separately amplified using universal chloroplast primers. Six, two, and three polymorphic cpSSR loci in B. gymnorrhiza, K. candel, and R. stylosa, respectively, were developed from amplified noncoding cpDNA regions. Characterization of 216, 156, and 253 individuals of B. gymnorrhiza, K. candel, and R. stylosa, respectively, collected from different natural mangrove populations (B. gymnorrhiza, 9; K. candel, 7; R. stylosa, 9) on Iriomote Island in Japan showed that these loci provide cpSSR markers with polymorphisms ranging from two to four alleles per locus and gene diversity between 0.027 and 0.480. These cpSSR markers will be useful for analyzing the maternal lineage distributions and population genetic structures of the three species. Several of these markers may also be useful in similar studies of other mangrove species.