Abstract

In this study, we describe the isolation and characterization of novel microsatellite markers for Haliotisrufescens derived from transcriptomepyrosequencing and heterologous loci obtained from expressed sequence tags previously reported for H. discus hannai. We were able to characterize 29 of 59 loci using 94 individuals from populations localized in Mexico and Chile. For the Mexican population, the number of alleles per locus ranged from 2 to 11, while the observed and expected heterozygosities varied from 0 to 0.977 and 0.1 to 0.854 respectively. For the Chilean populations, the number of alleles per locus ranged from two to eight while the observed and expected heterozygosities varied from 0 to 0.8 and 0.1 to 0.847 respectively. The average inbreeding coefficient F-is was 0.282 for the Mexican and 0.245 for the Chilean populations, while the polymorphic information content ranged from 0.590 to 0.927. Pairwise fixation index F-st and analysis of molecular variance indicated a significantly high genetic difference between the two studied populations (F-st = 0.535). In addition, cross-amplifications of 59 loci were also evaluated in H. fulgens, H. corrugate and H. discus hannai. These markers will constitute valuable tools for management strategies in aquaculture production and also for population genetic studies.