title: Development and characterization of microsatellite loci for smooth cordgrass, Spartina alterniflora (Poaceae).
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Spartina alterniflora is one of the nine most notoriously invasive plants in China. Microsatellite markers were developed for this species to investigate its invasiveness and genetic diversity. •
  
  
  RESULTS
  Fifteen polymorphic and seven monomorphic simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers derived from expressed sequence tags (ESTs) were identified and screened in 60 samples of S. alterniflora. The number of alleles per polymorphic locus ranged from two to eight, with an average of 3.8 alleles per polymorphic locus. The expected heterozygosity and observed heterozygosity based on seven disomic loci ranged from 0.27 to 0.46 and 0.21 to 0.51, respectively. The average Shannon index ranged from 0.26 to 0.94 in eight nondisomic loci. •
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The SSR markers described here may be useful for further investigation of population genetics and invasion dynamics of S. alterniflora.
authors.affiliation: Guangdong Key Laboratory of Plant Resources and State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510275, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Wuxia
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Guangdong Key Laboratory of Plant Resources and State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510275, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yelin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Guangdong Key Laboratory of Plant Resources and State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510275, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Ziwen
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: Guangdong Key Laboratory of Plant Resources and State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510275, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yubin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.affiliation: Guangdong Key Laboratory of Plant Resources and State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510275, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Renchao
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Guangdong Key Laboratory of Plant Resources and State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510275, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Suhua
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shi
keywords: Poaceae; Spartina alterniflora; invasive species; microsatellite; transcriptome