title: Microsatellite markers for the invasive species Bidens alba (Asteraceae).
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Microsatellite markers were developed in the invasive species Bidens alba (Asteraceae) to assess its population structure and to facilitate tracking its expansion in China. •
  
  
  RESULTS
  Using 454 pyrosequencing, 20 microsatellite primer sets were developed for B. alba. The markers were tested on one population of B. alba (30 individuals) and one population of the closely related B. pilosa (30 individuals) in China. For B. alba, all of the markers were polymorphic, and the number of alleles per locus ranged from three to 32. The expected heterozygosity values were from 0.3787 to 0.9284, and the Shannon-Wiener index was from 0.6796 to 2.8401. •
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These markers will be useful for investigating the genetic structure, genetic diversity, and invasion dynamics of B. alba and will also be useful in studies of B. pilosa.
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Ecology of Rare and Endangered Species and Environmental Protection, College of Life Sciences, Guangxi Normal University, Guilin 541004, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yong-Bin
authors.initials: YB
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Ecology of Rare and Endangered Species and Environmental Protection, College of Life Sciences, Guangxi Normal University, Guilin 541004, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Dong-Ling
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Ecology of Rare and Endangered Species and Environmental Protection, College of Life Sciences, Guangxi Normal University, Guilin 541004, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Xie
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Ecology of Rare and Endangered Species and Environmental Protection, College of Life Sciences, Guangxi Normal University, Guilin 541004, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Zheng-Jun
authors.initials: ZJ
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Ecology of Rare and Endangered Species and Environmental Protection, College of Life Sciences, Guangxi Normal University, Guilin 541004, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Shao-Qing
authors.initials: SQ
authors.lastname: Tang
keywords: Asteraceae; Bidens alba; microsatellite marker; simple sequence repeat (SSR)