Characterization of polymorphic microsatellite loci for North American common greenbrier, Smilax rotundifolia (Smilacaceae)

PREMISE OF THE STUDY: Microsatellite markers were developed for Smilax rotundifolia (Smilacaceae), an understory vine widely distributed in eastern North America, to investigate genetic diversity and structure. Cross‐amplification was tested in three congeneric species: S. china, S. riparia, and S. walteri. METHODS AND RESULTS: A total of 6153 simple sequence repeat primer pairs were detected from the de novo–assembled transcriptome data (88,3962 contigs) of S. rotundifolia. Thirty‐three polymorphic microsatellite loci were selected for further analysis among 96 individuals representing four natural populations of the species. The number of alleles ranged from two to 15, and 87.9% of the developed primer pairs could be cross‐amplified in at least one of three congeneric Smilax species. CONCLUSIONS: The simple sequence repeat markers developed in this study will facilitate further studies on genetic diversity and phylogeographic patterns of S. rotundifolia and provide additional potential microsatellite resources for other Smilax species.