Premise of the study: We isolated and characterized microsatellite markers in Polygonum cespitosum Blume, an herbaceous annual plant species introduced into North America from Asia that has recently become invasive.
Methods and results: A total of 12 polymorphic and 3 monomorphic loci were screened in 1-2 individuals from each of 20 populations from the introduced and native range, for a total of 24 samples. The number of alleles per locus in the polymorphic loci ranged from 3 to 9, and expected heterozygosity ranged from 0.156 to 0.838.
Conclusions: These new loci will provide tools for examining genetic relatedness among introduced and native populations of this and other related species.