Characterization of 14 microsatellite loci in a tropical palm, Attalea phalerata (Arecaceae)

? Premise of the study: We developed microsatellite primers for the widely distributed tropical palm Attalea phalerata for studies on the dispersal and spatial genetic structure of palm populations. ? Methods and Results: Fourteen di-, tri-, and tetra-nucleotide microsatellite primer pairs were identified. The number of alleles in the population tested ranged between 3 and 25, with a mean of 12.1. Ten microsatellite loci exhibited no significant deviations from Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium or presence of null alleles, and their combined probability of exclusion was 0.998. ? Conclusions: These microsatellite loci will be useful in parentage analysis and population genetics studies of Attalea phalerata.