Abstract

Myrceugenia rufa is an endangered shrub endemic to the coast range of central Chile, which has suffered strong degradation during recent decades. We developed nine microsatellite markers for this species and tested them on M. correifolia, M. lanceolata, and M. exsucca. Six loci amplified and were polymorphic in all species; the remaining loci were polymorphic in at least two species. The number of alleles per locus ranged from 1 to 10, the expected and observed heterozygosities ranged from 0.07 to 0.90 and 0.12-0.84, respectively. Characterized microsatellites will be useful to estimate the genetic diversity and population structure of M. rufa and its sister species.