Development and characterization of microsatellite loci for smooth cordgrass, Spartina alterniflora (Poaceae)(1)

• Premise of the study: Spartina alterniflora is one of the nine most notoriously invasive plants in China. Microsatellite markers were developed for this species to investigate its invasiveness and genetic diversity. • Methods and Results: Fifteen polymorphic and seven monomorphic simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers derived from expressed sequence tags (ESTs) were identified and screened in 60 samples of S. alterniflora. The number of alleles per polymorphic locus ranged from two to eight, with an average of 3.8 alleles per polymorphic locus. The expected heterozygosity and observed heterozygosity based on seven disomic loci ranged from 0.27 to 0.46 and 0.21 to 0.51, respectively. The average Shannon index ranged from 0.26 to 0.94 in eight nondisomic loci. • Conclusions: The SSR markers described here may be useful for further investigation of population genetics and invasion dynamics of S. alterniflora.