Technical overview of nuclear microsatellites for Fagus sp., and their utility in F. sylvatica from the central Balkans (Serbia)

Selectively neutral nuclear microsatellites (SSRs) are available for Fagus sp., and have been used in F. sylvatica, an ecologically and economically most important European Fagus species. We provide a comprehensive technical overview of available Fagus sp. SSRs (185 loci), carry out meta-analysis of loci used in F. sylvatica (62 loci employed in 62 surveys), and validate a set of 16 loci in 45 individuals of this species from the central Balkans (Serbia). Erroneous usage of marker’s names/authors is rather frequent, and loci successfully used in a number of studies are characterized by other authors by high prevalence of null alleles and even multilocus amplification products. Frequent occurrence of null alleles at FS4-46, used in 26 surveys to date, most likely indicates a failure to record multiple alleles at this locus. Twelve loci are reliable/informative in F. sylvatica from the Balkans (5–18 alleles/locus, H_E ranging from 0.523 to 0.850), while four loci are characterized by high prevalence of null alleles (sfc0161 and sfc1063) and multilocus amplification products (FS4-46 and Fagsyl_007038). Our findings are important for future population genetics and studies on adaptation of F. sylvatica to its environment, because the latter rely on both selectively neutral and adaptive markers under selection.