Polymorphic chloroplast microsatellite markers in the octoploid Lepidium meyenii (Brassicaceae) and cross-species amplification in Lepidium

As a crop and medicinal plant, the octoploid Andean endemic Lepidium meyenii suffers from taxonomic uncertainty. Few molecular markers are available to genotype individuals or track gene flow in wild and cultivated material. •

Using available sequence data, eight cpSSR primer pairs were developed for L. meyenii. Levels of polymorphism checked in 56 individual L. meyenii, including cultivated and wild material, revealed that the number of alleles per locus ranged from three to five, and intrapopulation allele frequencies ranged from 0.071 to 1.0. Polymerase-chain-reaction screens using our cpSSR primers in 27 other Lepidium species and three Coronopus species suggested a high degree of interspecific amplification. •

These polymorphic cpSSR markers should prove useful in characterizing genetic variation among cultivated and wild L. meyenii. Additionally, interspecific amplifications suggest that these markers will be useful for the study of related taxa.