Isolation and characterization of 14 microsatellite markers for Rhizophora mucronata (Rhizophoraceae) and their potential use in range-wide population studies

A set of 14 new microsatellite markers was developed for mangrove species Rhizophora mucronata (Rhizophoraceae) by using pyrosequencing. Fifty-six samples from 9 populations of R. mucronata in the Indo-West Pacific region were genotyped; all loci were polymorphic, with the number of alleles ranging from 2 to 9. The mean expected heterozygosity per locus was 0.16 in a population from Sabah, no significant linkage disequilibrium was found among loci, and significant deviation from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium was found in 3 loci. The polymorphic microsatellite markers with samples covering most of the species' distribution range can be applied in genetic diversity studies covering a broad geographical range of the species.