Department of Biological Sciences, Idaho State University, Pocatello, ID 83209.
Introgressive hybridization plays an important evolutionary role in plants.
However, studies of the genetic structures of natural hybrid zones are often hindered by the lack of sensitive molecular markers. Using PCR, eight pairs of microsatellite primers developed specifically for Aesculus were used to amplify eight microsatellite loci of populations representing pure parental species and hybrids. The genotype of each locus was determined for each individual using an ABI-377 automated DNA sequencer with GeneScan version 3.1 and the data obtained analyzed with Genotyper version 2.0. Our preliminary results indicated that these microsatellite loci are highly polymorphic. Multiple alleles that differ in one to more than 15 nucleotides were found for these loci.