Characterisation of polymorphic microsatellite loci in the small-spotted catshark (Scyliorhinus canicula L.)

• Published in: Conservation genetics resources 2011-10, Vol.3 (4), p.705-709
• Main Authors: Griffiths, Andrew M., Casane, Didier, McHugh, Matthew, Wearmouth, Victoria J., Sims, David W., Genner, Martin J.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Alleles; Animal Genetics and Genomics; Artificial chromosomes; Bacterial artificial chromosomes; Biodiversity; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Conservation Biology/Ecology; Ecology; Evolutionary Biology; Expressed sequence tags; Genetic markers; Heterozygosity; Life Sciences; Microsatellites; Plant Genetics and Genomics; Population genetics; Population studies; Scyliorhinus canicula; Technical Note
• ISSN: 1877-7252; 1877-7260
• DOI: 10.1007/s12686-011-9438-z

Microsatellite markers were characterised in the small-spotted catshark ( Scyliorhinus canicula ) from unpublished sequences generated from expressed sequence tags and bacterial artificial chromosomes. All seventeen of the loci screened were found to be polymorphic within the population of catsharks tested. The number of alleles identified varied between two and twelve per locus, and the expected heterozygosity ranged from 0.40 to 0.83. Evidence of null alleles was detected in two loci, while one locus showed significant deviation from expectations of Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium. There was no evidence of significant linkage between any loci. Cross-amplification was attempted in six other species of elasmobranch and success generally followed levels of taxonomic relatedness. These markers should be a powerful tool for population genetic and molecular studies of the small-spotted catshark, and may prove useful in other shark species.