Development of genome-wide microsatellites from Primula tibetica (Primulaceae) and their utility in congeneric...

Primula tibetica is an insect-pollinated, herbaceous, perennial plant belonging to the section Aleuritia (Primulaceae). The species exhibits the typical characteristics of heterostyly, with predominantly outcrossing populations comprising long-styled and short-styled floral morphs. Furthermore, significant variation occurs in floral morphology, categorised as homostyly, a phenomenon commonly associated with elevated selfing rates. Utilising next-generation sequencing, 25 microsatellite markers for P. tibetica were developed, with the objective of facilitating future investigations into the population genetics and mating patterns of the species. These markers were characterised by measuring polymorphism and genetic diversity in a sample of 36 individuals from three natural populations. The markers displayed relatively high polymorphism, with the number of observed alleles per locus ranging from two to 15 (mean = 7.26). The observed and expected heterozygosities ranged from 0.056 to 0.917 and 0.105 to 0.825, respectively. Furthermore, nineteen of these loci were also successfully amplified in P. pulchella. These microsatellite markers should serve as effective tools for investigating patterns of population genetic diversity and elucidating the evolutionary relationship between distyly and homostyly in P. tibetica.