Polymorphic microsatellite markers for the rare and endangered cactus Uebelmannia pectinifera (Cactaceae) and its congeneric species.

The cactus genus Uebelmannia includes 3 narrow endemic species associated with rocky savanna habitats in eastern South America. Because of their rarity and illegal over-collection, all of these species are endangered. Taxonomic uncertainties resulting from dramatic local variation in morphology within Uebelmannia species preclude effective conservation efforts, such as the reintroduction or translocation of plants, to restore declining populations. In this study, we developed and characterized 18 perfect, dinucleotide simple-sequence repeat markers for U. pectinifera, the most widely distributed species in the genus, and tested the cross-amplification of these markers in the remaining congeneric species and subspecies. All markers were polymorphic in a sample from 2 U. pectinifera populations. The effective number of alleles ranged from 1.6 to 8.7, with an average per population of 3.3 (SE ± 0.30) and 4.5 (SE ± 0.50). Expected heterozygosity ranged from 0.375 to 0.847 and 8-10 loci showed departures from Hardy- Weinberg equilibrium in the analyzed populations. Based on the observed polymorphism level of each marker, as well as the analysis of null allele presence and evidence of amplification of duplicate loci, a subset of 12 loci can be used as reliable markers to investigate the genetic structure, diversity, and species limits of the Uebelmannia genus.