Sinanodonta woodiana (Mollusca: Bivalvia: Unionidae): Isolation and Characterization of the First Microsatellite Markers

• Main Authors: Elena Iulia Iorgu, Marieta Costache, Ana-Maria Krapal, Dumitru Murariu, Oana Paula Popa, Luis Ovidiu Popa
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2011-08-01
• Series: International Journal of Molecular Sciences
• Subjects: invasive species; microsatellite; population genetics; range expansion; native area
• Online Access: http://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/12/8/5255/

Sinanodonta woodiana (Lea, 1834) is a large Unionid species with a real invasion success. It colonized Europe, Central America, the Indonesian Islands and recently North America. The species life cycle involves a larval parasitic stage on freshwater fish species which contributes to the spread of the mussel. In this paper we describe, for the first time, eight polymorphic microsatellite loci for the species Sinanodonta woodiana. The genetic screening of individuals confirmed that all loci were highly polymorphic. The number of alleles per locus ranged from 7 to 14 and the observed heterozygosity ranged from 0.650 to 0.950. These loci should prove useful to study the species population genetics which could help to infer important aspects of the invasion process.