Characterization of microsatellite loci isolated from the blacktip shark and their utility in requiem and hammerhead sharks

Abstract

We isolated and characterized 16 microsatellite loci from the blacktip shark, Carcharhinus limbatus, and tested cross-species amplification in 11 Carcharhinus species and five additional shark genera. Thirty-six (1.6%) and 180 (48%) colonies were positive for dinucleotide repeat motifs from unenriched and enriched libraries, respectively. Heterozygosities of polymorphic loci ranged from 0.04 to 0.96 with two to 22 alleles per locus. Amplification products were observed at nine to 13 loci (five to 11 of which where polymorphic) in 10 Carcharhinus species. Several loci were also polymorphic in each of the additional genera examined.