Characterization of polymorphic microsatellite loci in Yucca filamentosa

Yuccas and their pollinator moths are a textbook example of mutualism, yet we lack sufficiently variable markers to properly study the population genetics of the plants. We characterized 13 polymorphic microsatellite loci for Yucca filamentosa by screening primers derived from an expressed sequence tag database. We found four to 13 alleles per locus and the observed heterozygosity ranged from 0.31 to 1. These markers will be useful in future ecological studies of Y. filamentosa.