Isolation and cross-species amplification of microsatellite loci from the fucoid seaweeds fucus vesiculosus, f. serratus and Ascophyllum nodosum (heterokontophyta, fucaceae)

The Fucaceae is a family of brown seaweeds that dominate and frequently co-occur on North Atlantic rocky shores. We developed nine polymorphic microsatellite markers for the fucoid seaweeds Fucus vesiculosus, F. serratus and Ascophyllum nodosum using a combined, enriched library. Six of these loci were polymorphic in at least two species, showing from two to eight alleles with heterozygosities ranging from 0.41 to 0.85. Loci were also tested on F. spiralis, revealing five polymorphic microsatellite loci in this species