Premise of the study: Tetranucleotide microsatellite markers were developed for the first time in Pinus massoniana Lamb. to facilitate studies of population and conservation biology in this species.
Methods and results: Ten tetranucleotide microsatellite primer pairs were developed using dual suppression PCR. Seven, six, and eight of the primer pairs exhibited cross-species transferability to P. thunbergii, P. densiflora, and P. luchuensis, respectively. The number of alleles ranged from 1 to 31 per locus across four pine species.
Conclusions: Considering its advantage over dinucleotide microsatellites in generating fewer artifacts arising from stutter bands, this tetranucleotide microsatellite panel will facilitate future population and conservation biological studies in P. massoniana. Six to eight markers can also be used in studies of three congeneric species.