Development and characterization of microsatellite markers from the transcriptome of Firmiana danxiaensis (Malvaceae s.l.)1

UNLABELLED PREMISE OF THE STUDY Firmiana consists of 12-16 species, many of which are narrow endemics. Expressed sequence tag (EST)-simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers were developed and characterized for size polymorphism in four Firmiana species. • METHODS AND RESULTS A total of 102 EST-SSR primer pairs were designed based on the transcriptome sequences of F. danxiaensis; these were then characterized in four Firmiana species-F. danxiaensis, F. kwangsiensis, F. hainanensis, and F. simplex. In these four species, 17 primer pairs were successfully amplified, and 14 were polymorphic in at least one species. The number of alleles ranged from one to 13, and the observed and expected heterozygosities ranged from 0 to 1 and 0 to 0.925, respectively. The lowest level of polymorphism was observed in F. danxiaensis. • CONCLUSIONS These polymorphic EST-SSR markers are valuable for conservation genetics studies in the endangered Firmiana species.