Begonia fimbristipula (Begoniaceae) is a medicinal herb distributed in the Chinese provinces of Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Hunan, Jiangxi, and Zhejiang, and it is on the verge of extinction due to habitat destruction and deterioration of its ecosystem. Here we developed a set of highly polymorphic microsatellite markers for population genetic and conservation studies of this endangered medicinal plant.
Using the Fast Isolation by AFLP of Sequences COntaining repeats (FIASCO) protocol, 18 polymorphic microsatellite markers were identified within 48 individuals from two geographic locations. The observed and expected heterozygosities ranged from 0.208 to 1.000 and from 0.291 to 0.812, respectively. These microsatellite markers were cross-amplified in five related Begonia species, and six loci were successfully amplified in all species.