Chloroplast microsatellites: new tools for studies in plant ecology and evolution

Jim Provan, Wayne Powell, Peter M. Hollingsworth

Research output: Contribution to journalLiterature Reviewpeer-review

568 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The nonrecombinant, uniparentally inherited nature of organelle genomes makes them useful tools for evolutionary studies, However, in plants, detecting useful polymorphism at the population level is often difficult because of the low level of substitutions in the chloroplast genome, and because of the slow substitution rates and intramolecular recombination of mtDNA. Chloroplast microsatellites represent potentially useful markers to circumvent this problem and, to date, studies have demonstrated high levels of intraspecific variability. Here, we discuss the use of these markers in ecological and evolutionary studies of plants, as well as highlighting some of the potential problems associated with such use.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)142-147
Number of pages6
JournalTrends in Ecology and Evolution
Volume16
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Mar 2001

Keywords

  • SIMPLE-SEQUENCE REPEATS
  • NONCODING REGIONS
  • UNIVERSAL PRIMERS
  • Y-CHROMOSOME
  • RICE ORYZA
  • DNA
  • GENOMES
  • MARKERS
  • POLYMORPHISM
  • DIVERSITY

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