Microsatellites for North American species of Triops (Branchiopoda: Notostraca)

Abstract

We used 454 pyrosequencing to discover more than 3000 candidate microsatellite markers for three putative species of tadpole shrimp in the genus Triops. We selected 42 of these candidates, consisting of 12 systems identified in Triops longicaudatus "long," 16 identified in Triops longicaudatus "short," and 14 identified in Triops newberryi. Out of these potential loci we identified between five and eight polymorphic microsatellite systems per "species." By implementing an additional cross amplification experiment with the microsatellite markers mentioned above and further testing 15 microsatellite markers initially identified in the European Triops cancriformis, we successfully transferred 17 microsatellite markers within the three North American Triops and found three new microsatellites, one polymorphic, that will amplify in T. cancriformis. The reported genetic methods are powerful molecular tools to acquire new detailed information at the interface of ecology, evolution and development, which will facilitate understanding phenotypic plasticity, breeding systems, and adaptation in this taxonomically-confusing group of "living fossils". © The Crustacean Society, 2013. Published by Brill NV, Leiden.