Isolation and characterization of microsatellite DNA loci in Aquilegia sp.

We obtained a microsatellite-enriched genomic library isolated from the tissue of a single columbine ( Aquilegia sp.) plant taken from a southwestern USA natural population. The primers developed for these microsatellite loci performed consistently in polymerase chain reactions and yielded multiallelic genotypes with relatively high observed heterozygosities. We describe polymerase chain reaction primers and conditions to amplify 16 unique, codominant di-, tri- and tetra-nucleotide microsatellite DNA loci so that other population biology researchers using columbine natural populations as a model system may benefit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]