Development of microsatellite markers for Leucosceptrum japonicum and L. stellipilum (Lamiaceae)(1)

• Premise of the study: We developed 10 new primers for amplifying microsatellite loci for both Leucosceptrum japonicum and L. stellipilum to study the genetic structure of hybrid zones between these two species. • Methods and Results: We isolated DNA fragments containing microsatellites from an enriched library and designed the 10 primer pairs amplifying the fragments. The number of alleles per locus ranged from one to 11 in both L. japonicum and L. stellipilum. The observed heterozygosity ranged from 0.00 to 0.84 and 0.00 to 1.00 in L. japonicum and L. stellipilum, respectively. The expected heterozygosity ranged from 0.00 to 0.84 and 0.00 to 0.89 in L. japonicum and L. stellipilum, respectively. • Conclusions: These newly developed markers will be useful in investigating genetic structure and hybridization patterns in hybrid zones between L. japonicum and L. stellipilum.