Development and characterization of expressed sequence tag-simple sequence repeat markers for the near-threatened halophyte, Limonium tetragonum (Thunb.) A. A. Bullock (Plumbaginaceae).

Here, next-generation RNA sequencing analysis was performed to develop 13 novel expressed sequence tag-simple sequence repeat markers to evaluate the genetic variation in the near-threatened halophyte, Limonium tetragonum (Thunb.) A. A. Bullock. In the four populations, the total number of alleles at each locus ranged from two to seven, with an average of 3.1 and average observed and expected heterozygosities ranged from 0.00 to 0.13 and 0.28 to 0.78, respectively. Three of thirteen loci had the same homo alleles within populations, however, different alleles among different populations. Compared to other halophytes, relatively low genetic diversity was observed in this species. Further studies are necessary to determine the population demography of L. tetragonum and clarify the cause of its low genetic diversity.