Isolation and characterization of 11 polymorphic microsatellite loci from Fatsia polycarpa (Araliaceae), an element of evergreen forests in Taiwan

Fatsia polycarpa Hayata (Araliaceae) is an element of evergreen forests at middle elevations in Taiwan, also representing the southern limitation in distribution of the genus. In this study, we described the development of 11 microsatellite loci from F. polycarpa in Taiwan for genetic studies. These new markers were tested in 20 individuals of 5 populations of the woody species. The number of alleles ranged from 9 to 18. The expected (H _E ) and observed (H _O ) heterozygosities were 0.80-0.95 and 0.10-0.75, respectively. Six of the 11 microsatellite loci are significantly deviated from Hardy-Weinberg expectations likely due to the population structure within samples. No linkage disequilibrium were observed from pairwise comparisons of loci.