Isolation and characterization of microsatellite markers from the hosta species Hosta albomarginata (Liliaceae)

Hostas are very popular ornamental plants in gardens in the United States, Europe, and East Asia. We have developed nine microsatellite loci from an enrichment library of genomic DNA in Hosta albomarginata. We characterized these nine microsatellite loci for 20 individuals from a population of H. albomarginata. The primers developed in this study yielded an average of 12.4 alleles per locus (range five to 20) and an average expected heterozygosity of 0.86 (range 0.65 to 0.95). These markers will be powerful tools for breeding programmes of hosta cultivars, studies of population genetics, and the conservation of wild hosta species.