Novel chloroplast markers for the study of intraspecific variation and hybridisation in the Lepidosperma costale species complex (Cyperaceae)

To investigate intraspecific variation and hybridisation in the Lepidosperma costale species complex, forty-one primers to amplify regions containing chloroplast microsatellites and insertions/deletions were designed using de novo sequencing. Twenty-six loci were polymorphic within three diploid populations, with 2 to 9 alleles per locus. A further 15 loci exhibited fixed size differences between the diploid individuals and a population of putative allopolyploid origin. These markers will assist studies of genetic diversity and hybridisation in Lepidosperma, help inform the conservation of taxa in the Lepidosperma costale species complex, and may have utility across the Cyperaceae.