Pedicularis verticillata L. is a highly valuable herb for traditional Chinese medical treatment. In this report, 11 microsatellite loci from P. verticillata were isolated. The simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers were screened in 23 samples of wild populations of P. verticillata, and eight samples from its sister P. ikomai. The number of alleles ranged from 4 to 13, and value of expected (H E ) and observed (H 0 ) heterozygosity was 0.62609-0.89662 and 0-0.95652, respectively. All loci were significantly deviated from Hardy-Weinberg expectations due to the heterozygote deficiency, indicating a dramatic loss of genetic polymorphisms in the restrictedly distributed species. The markers amplified well in the two species are useful for examining genetic diversity and population genetic structure, which, in turn, can provide information for establishing conservation strategy for these endangered species.Keywords Microsatellite Á PIMA Á Pedicularis verticillata L. HeterozygosityThe genus Pedicularis comprises about 500 species all over the world. Pedicularis verticillata L., an annual herb, is restrictedly distributed in the Northern hemisphere, mostly in temperate Asia, and the central part of Taiwan (Prain 1890;Li 1948;Tsoong 1955;Yang et al. 1998). In Taiwan, the plant grows on mountain slopes at high elevations, ca. 2,000-3,500 m alt. above the sea level. Due to the rapid social-economical development, natural habitats for the plants have been severely disturbed, resulting in population fragmentation. Overexploitation is another reason for the quick population decline. Several Pedicularis species have been used as traditional Chinese medicine for treating diuresis, exhaustion, collapse and senility (Su et al. 1997). Recently, pharmacological studies in Pedicularis showed strong scavenging effects on superoxide and anti-oxidation effects (Liu et al. 1991;Jia et al. 1992). For protecting these valuable natural resources, investigating genetic diversity and population structure would provide information for conservation. In the study, we isolated 11 microsatellites from the endangered species.Genomic DNAs were obtained from ground leaf tissue of P. verticillata (PV) using a CTAB methodology (Doyle and Doyle 1987). Microsatellite markers in PV were isolated by beginning with a random amplified polymorphic DNA-polymerase chain reaction (RAPD-PCR) enrichment (Hsu et al. 2004;Huang et al. 2007). This PCR isolation of microsatellite arrays (PIMA) approach was proposed by Lunt et al. (1999). It takes advantage that the RAPD fragments contain microsatellite repeats more frequently than genomic clones (Cifarelli et al. 1995).The RAPD-PCR amplification was performed in a thermal cycler with a reaction mixture (50 ll) containing 20-100 ng DNA, 0.2 mM of each dNTP, 2 mM MgCl 2 , 0.5 U Taq polymerase (Violet), and 5 pmols of one RAPD primer. The PCR program was as follows: initial denaturing 5 min at 94°C for 1 cycles, 35 cycles of 30 s at 94°C, 1 min at 42°C, 2 min at 72°C, followed by 10 min at 72°C for additional extension ste...