High degree of conservation of nuclear microsatellite loci in the genus Clusia

In plants, microsatellites and their flanking DNA are rarely conserved across a whole genus, let alone other genera in the same family. Therefore, the possibility of using microsatellite primers developed for a species across a large number of plant species in the same genus is often limited. Remarkably, dinucleotide nuclear microsatellites developed for Clusia minor and for Clusia nemorosa amplified homologous microsatellites in species across the whole genus Clusia. In this present study, we report on the DNA sequence variation across the genus of 3 microsatellite loci with varying levels of variation. Compared over the species, there was a correlation between the lengths of the microsatellite loci. Interrupts occurred multiple times and did not seem to lead to the death of the microsatellite. These highly conserved markers will be useful for studying the variable reproductive systems in the genus Clusia.