Premise of the study: Microsatellite markers were developed to investigate population genetic structure in the threatened species Arnica montana. •
Methods and results: Fourteen microsatellite markers with di-, tetra-, and hexanucleotide repeat motifs were developed for A. montana using 454 pyrosequencing without and with library-enrichment methods, resulting in 56,545 sequence reads and 14,467 sequence reads, respectively. All loci showed a high level of polymorphism, with allele numbers ranging from four to 11 in five individuals from five populations (25 samples) and an expected heterozygosity ranging from 0.192 to 0.648 across the loci. •
Conclusions: This set of microsatellite markers is the first one described for A. montana and will facilitate conservation genetic applications as well as the understanding of phylogeographic patterns in this species.
Keywords: Arnica montana; microsatellites; population genetics; pyrosequencing.