ABSTRACT. Pinus tabulaeformis f. shekanensis is a rare taxon endemic in the Ziwuling Loess Plateau, of which only one population is known. Inter-simple sequence repeat molecular markers were employed to compare the taxon's genetic diversity with its 4 nearest wild relatives (P. tabulaeformis, P. tabulaeformis var. mukdensis, P. massoniana, and P. henryi) to assess the taxonomic status of P. tabulaeformis f. shekanensis. Inter-simple sequence repeat marker data revealed higher genetic diversity in the P. tabulaeformis f. shekanensis population than in the other populations. Population genetic analysis (neighbor-joining cluster analysis, principal coordinate analysis, and structure clustering) revealed that P. tabulaeformis f. shekanensis and P. tabulaeformis are likely conspecific (the former may be a variety of the latter). Strategies are also proposed for the conservation of P. tabulaeformis f. shekanensis.

ABSTRACT. Blood clams (Scapharca broughtonii) are widely cultivated and consumed in noutheast Asia. Forty-eight polymorphic microsatellite loci were developed for this clam using magnetic-bead hybridization enrichment. The number of alleles per locus ranged from 2 to 14. Polymorphism of these loci was assessed in 30 individuals from a population collected from coastal areas of Qingdao, China. The values of observed heterozygosity, expected heterozygosity and polymorphism information content per locus ranged from 0.1034 to 0.9655, from 0.1831 to 0.9208, and from 0.1638 to 0.8964, respectively. Forty-three of 48 loci conformed to Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. These microsatellite loci would be useful for molecular 4502 J.-T. Tian et al. ©FUNPEC-RP www.funpecrp.com.br Genetics and Molecular Research 11 (4): 4501-4507 (2012) genetic breeding, population genetics, genome mapping, and other relevant research on S. broughtonii.