Microsatellite primers for vulnerable and thriving acacia (Fabaceae) species from Australia's arid zone

Premise of the study: Microsatellite markers were developed for the common arid Australian shrub Acacia ligulata (Fabaceae) and the threatened overstory trees A. melvillei and A. pendula. Methods and Results: DNA sequence data generated by 454 sequencing were used to identify microsatellite nucleotide repeat motifs. Including previously developed primer sets, we report on the development of 10 polymorphic microsatellite loci for each species. Six of these were novel for A. melvillei and A. ligulata, and five were novel for A. pendula, while five more each were transferred from primers developed for related species (A. carneorum and A. loderi). We found three to 17 alleles per locus for each species, with high multilocus genotypic diversity within each of two A. ligulata and A. pendula stands, and one A. melvillei population. A second A. melvillei stand appeared to be monoclonal. Conclusions: These markers will allow assessment of population genetics, mating systems, and connectedness of populations of these and possibly other arid-zone acacias.