Isolation and characterization of novel microsatellite markers for Arctium minus (Compositae)

? Premise of the study: Microsatellite primers were developed for the invasive plant Arctium minus to investigate the effects of facultative self-pollination and the biannual habit on population genetic structure, as well as the colonization of the Americas by this Eurasian species. ? Methods and Results: Sixteen di- and trinucleotide microsatellite loci were identified in six populations. The number of alleles per locus ranged from one to 10, observed heterozygosities ranged from 0.000 to 0.897, and the mean value of F(IS) was 0.316. ? Conclusions: These results indicate the utility of these loci in future studies of population genetics in A. minus.