ABSTRACT. To understand the genetic variability of the tetraploid fern Ceratopteris thalictroides (Parkeriaceae), we described 30 polymorphic microsatellite markers obtained using the restriction site-associated DNA (RAD) tag sequencing technique. A total of 26 individuals were genotyped for each marker. The number of alleles per locus ranged from 4 to 10, and the expected heterozygosity and the Shannon-Wiener index ranged from 0.264 to 0.852 and 0.676 to 2.032, respectively. Because these 30 microsatellite markers exhibit high degrees of genetic variation, they will be useful tools for studying the adaptive genetic variation and sustainable conservation of C. thalictroides.

ABSTRACT. Isoëtes sinensis is a critically endangered quillwort. To facilitate studies on the conservation genetics of this species, we developed expressed sequence tag-simple sequence repeat (EST-SSR) markers. A total of 50,063 unigenes were predicted by transcriptome sequencing, 5294 (10.6%) of which significantly matched 3011 Gene Ontology annotations and 2363 were assigned to Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes metabolic pathways. Most of these (2297) were involved in metabolism. A total of 1982 SSR motifs were identified, with trinucleotides being the dominant repeat motif, and 1438 (72.6%) SSR primers were designed. Eighteen randomly selected primer pairs were used to genotype 24 I. sinensis accessions, which confirmed the suitability of these novel markers for molecular studies of I. sinensis. The heterozygosity index value ranged between 0.0799 and 0.9106, while the Shannon-Wiener diversity index value ranged between 0.1732 and 2.5589. The EST-SSRs reported in this study are linked to genic sequences, and are therefore ideal for investigating the evolutionary history of I. sinensis. These markers, together with the large EST dataset generated in this study, will greatly facilitate conservation genetic studies of I. sinensis.