Isolation and characterization of microsatellite loci for the herbaceous tuber crop, Amorphophallus konjac (Araceae)

Amorphophallus konjac is an herbaceous tuber crop with tremendous potential for commercial development. We report the development of microsatellite primers for this important crop species. Thirteen polymorphic microsatellite markers were developed and tested in two populations of A. konjac from the Wuling Mountain Region (WL population) and the Yunnan Province (YN population) in China. The number of alleles per locus ranged from 1 to 7; the observed and expected heterozygosities ranged from 0 to 1 and from 0 to 0.844, respectively, in the two populations. These microsatellite markers will facilitate further studies in population genetics and utilization of A. konjac.