Dinucleotide microsatellite loci isolated from flowering dogwood (Cornus florida L.)

We report eight variable dinucleotide microsatellite loci cloned from flowering dogwood (Corpus florida L.) using a biotin enrichment protocol. Degenerate oligonucleotide primer-polymerase chain reaction (DOP-PCR) was used to generate a population of DNA fragments, from which adenine-cytosine dinucleotide (AC) and adenine-guanine dinucleotide (AG) repeats were captured using biotinylated probes and streptavidin coated magnetic particles. The captured fragments were cloned into plasmids, and the plasmid library was screened for microsatellites using a simple PCR technique. Selected plasmids were sequenced, and PCR primers were designed and optimized using a thermal-gradient thermocycler. The loci reported are highly variable with an average of 9.25 allele per locus and an average heterozygosity of 0.84.