Sixteen polymorphic simple sequence repeat markers from expressed sequence tags of the Chinese Mitten Crab Eriocheir sinensis

Identification and characterization of thirty novel microsatellite DNA markers from the Chinese mitten crab Eriocheir sinensis expressed sequence tags

Background

The Chinese mitten crab Eriocheir sinensis is an economically important decapod crustacean in China. Despite a widespread distribution and production in China, the resources of E. sinensis have experienced a dramatic decline in the past decades. Here we describe a new set of novel polymorphic microsatellite loci to facilitate the investigation of genetic structure and artificial breeding.

Results

In this study, a set of 30 novel polymorphic microsatellite markers for E. sinensis was developed from EST databases. The number of alleles per locus ranged from three to twenty. The observed and expected heterozygosities ranged from 0.047 to 0.932 and from 0.047 to 0.935, respectively.

Conclusions

These informative microsatellite markers will be useful in studies of genetics, genomics and marker-assisted selection breeding in E. sinensis.

Screening of new microsatellite DNA markers from the genome of Platyeriocheir formosa

The catadromous Platyeriocheir formosa is a crab endemic in Taiwan. To conserve P. formosa population diversity and ensure the sustainable use of this natural resource, we have developed new genetic markers, 17 polymorphic microsatellite loci, to promote the study of its population genetics in the future. In this study, more than 70 microsatellite sequences were found. Among these, 18 loci were selected to analyze the genetic diversity of P. formosa. With the exception of the Pfo15 locus, all of the remaining loci were polymorphic with allelic numbers ranging from 3–14. Heterozygosity within all 17 polymorphic loci ranged from 0.2–0.95 with an average of 0.55, which suggested that these loci are proper markers for studying population genetics. After we tested cross-specific amplification, eight and six primer sets could be successfully used for the amplification of microsatellite loci in morphologically similar Eriocheir sinensis and E. japonica, respectively; this suggests that they are useful markers for closely related species.