Development of 201 tri- and tetra-nucleotide repeat microsatellites for bighead carp (Aristichthys nobilis)

In this study we developed 201 tri- and tetra-nucleotide repeat microsatellites for bighead carp (Aristichthys nobilis), and 135 of them showed polymorphism. Thirty-seven of polymorphic loci were randomly selected to characterize genetic diversity in a test population with 36 individuals. The number of alleles per locus ranged from 2 to 11 (mean 5.6), and the average observed and expected heterozygosity were 0.53 and 0.61, respectively. Twenty-four of the 37 loci were highly informative (PIC > 0.5) in the test population. Six loci deviated from the Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium, and no pairs of loci were in linkage disequilibrium after Bonferroni correction. All 201 loci could be successfully amplified in silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix) with 64 loci being polymorphic, indicating a high universality of these microsatellites across species. These novel polynucleotide microsatellites would be useful tools for further population and conservation genetics studies in bighead carp and its closely-related silver carp.In this study we developed 201 tri- and tetra-nucleotide repeat microsatellites for bighead carp (Aristichthys nobilis), and 135 of them showed polymorphism. Thirty-seven of polymorphic loci were randomly selected to characterize genetic diversity in a test population with 36 individuals. The number of alleles per locus ranged from 2 to 11 (mean 5.6), and the average observed and expected heterozygosity were 0.53 and 0.61, respectively. Twenty-four of the 37 loci were highly informative (PIC > 0.5) in the test population. Six loci deviated from the Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium, and no pairs of loci were in linkage disequilibrium after Bonferroni correction. All 201 loci could be successfully amplified in silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix) with 64 loci being polymorphic, indicating a high universality of these microsatellites across species. These novel polynucleotide microsatellites would be useful tools for further population and conservation genetics studies in bighead carp and its closely-related silver carp