Development of microsatellite markers in the hexaploid aquatic macrophyte, Myriophyllum spicatum (Haloragaceae)(1)

• Premise of the study: We developed microsatellite primers to investigate genetic diversity and population genetic structure of the cosmopolitan submerged plant Myriophyllum spicatum. • Methods and Results: Twenty microsatellite loci were identified in M. spicatum using the microsatellite-enriched library method. The numbers of alleles per locus ranged from one to 13, and the expected heterozygosity varied from 0 to 0.873 with a mean of 0.504 in two Chinese populations of M. spicatum. All of the loci were also found to be amplifiable in the related species M. verticillatum and M. sibiricum. • Conclusions: The results indicate that these markers will be significant for studies of population genetic structure and evolutionary history of M. spicatum as well as some of its related species.