Isolation and characterization of polymorphic microsatellite markers from the velvet tree, Miconia calvescens DC. (Melastomataceae).

Nine polymorphic microsatellite loci were isolated and characterized from the invasive velvet tree (Miconia calvescens DC.), a serious forest invader in tropical Pacific oceanic islands. These loci provided markers with polymorphism of three to 10 alleles per locus within 95 individuals. The expected and observed heterozygosities ranged from 0.0367 to 0.5053 and from 0.0370 to 0.2473, respectively. These markers should be useful to study dispersal and the invasion genetics of the velvet tree.