title: Development of microsatellite markers for the apomictic triploid fern Myriopteris lindheimeri (Pteridaceae).
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Microsatellite markers were developed for investigating the population dynamics of Myriopteris lindheimeri (Pteridaceae), an apomictic triploid fern endemic to deserts of the southwestern United States and Mexico.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Using 454 sequencing, 21 microsatellite markers were developed. Of these, 14 were polymorphic with up to five alleles per locus and eight markers amplified in one or more congeneric close relatives (M. covillei, M. fendleri, M. aurea, and M. rufa). To demonstrate marker utility, M. lindheimeri samples from three Arizona populations were genotyped at nine loci. For each population, diversity measures including percent polymorphic loci, frequency of heterozygotes across all loci, and genotypic diversity were calculated. Across the three populations, on average, 63% of loci were polymorphic, the average frequency of heterozygotes (across all loci) was 0.32, and average genotypic diversity was 0.34.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These markers provide a foundation for future studies exploring polyploidy and apomixis in myriopterid ferns.
authors.affiliation: Department of Botany, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. 20013 USA.
authors.forename: Amanda L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Grusz
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708 USA.
authors.forename: Kathleen M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Pryer
keywords: Myriopteris lindheimeri; asexual; cheilanthoid; polyploidy; pteridophyte; simple sequence repeats (SSRs)