Development of novel microsatellite markers in a tropical seagrass, Enhalus acoroides

Using the dual-suppression polymerase chain reaction technique, 12 novel polymorphic nuclear microsatellite DNA markers were isolated from the tropical seagrass Enhalus acoroides . The isolated markers provided the polymorphisms of 2–13 alleles per locus in 3 populations located in Japan, China, and the Philippines. The values of the expected heterozygosity fell in the following ranges: 0.000–0.693 (Japan), 0.000–0.623 (China), and 0.000–0.765 (Philippines). Compared to the Philippines population (1 monomorphic locus), a relatively higher proportion of the SSR loci did not show polymorphism in the marginal habitats of E. acoroides (5 loci in Japan; 5 loci in China). These markers may be useful for population and conservation genetics of E. acoroides .