Conclusions
The novel chloroplast microsatellite markers developed in the current study demonstrate substantial cross-species transferability and will be helpful in future genetic diversity studies of A. trifida and related species.
Results
The complete chloroplast genome of A. trifida was mined for microsatellite loci, and 15 novel chloroplast primers were identified to assess the genetic diversity of 49 Ambrosia samples. The number of alleles amplified ranged from two to six, with an average of 3.2 alleles per locus. Shannon's information index varied from 0.305 and 1.467, expected heterozygosity ranged from 0.178 to 0.645, and the polymorphism information content value ranged from 0.211 to 0.675 (average 0.428). The cross-species transferability of the 15 microsatellite loci was also evaluated in four related Ambrosia species (A. artemisiifolia, A. maritima, A. psilostachya, and A. tenuifolia). Conclusions: The novel chloroplast microsatellite markers developed in the current study demonstrate substantial cross-species transferability and will be helpful in future genetic diversity studies of A. trifida and related species.