Abstract
BackgroundThe Antarctic krill, Euphausia superba is a pelagic crustacean, abundant in high-density swarms (10 000 – 30 000 ind/m2) with a circumpolar distribution and a key role in the food web of the Southern Ocean. Only three EST derived microsatellite markers have been used in previous genetic studies, hence we developed additional highly polymorphic microsatellite markers to allow robust studies of the genetic variability and population differentiation within this species.FindingsThe microsatellite markers described here were obtained through an enriched genomic library, followed by 454 pyrosequencing. A total of 10 microsatellite markers were tested in 32 individuals from the Antarctic Peninsula. One of the tested loci was fixed for one allele while the other was variable. Of the remaining nine markers, seven showed no departure from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. The mean number of alleles was 14.9.ConclusionsThese markers open perspectives for population genetic studies of this species to unravel genetic structure, dispersal and population biology, vital information for future conservation.
Highlights
The Antarctic krill, Euphausia superba is a pelagic crustacean, abundant in high-density swarms (10 000 – 30 000 ind/m2) with a circumpolar distribution and a key role in the food web of the Southern Ocean
One of Southern Ocean’s most important species is the Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba, Dana 1852), a shrimp-like crustacean that plays a central role in this ecosystem, being both a grazer of phytoplankton, bacteria and micro-zooplankton, and prey for vertebrates such as fish, seabirds, seals, penguins and whales [2,3]
The availability of microsatellite markers is limited and their development has proven difficult, as reported by other authors [10]. This could possibly be linked to the low GC content of the krill genome (32%), and its susceptibility to damage via UV-B radiation [11]
Summary
The Antarctic krill, Euphausia superba is a pelagic crustacean, abundant in high-density swarms (10 000 – 30 000 ind/m2) with a circumpolar distribution and a key role in the food web of the Southern Ocean. Conclusions: These markers open perspectives for population genetic studies of this species to unravel genetic structure, dispersal and population biology, vital information for future conservation. * Correspondence: steixeira@ualg.pt 1Centre of Marine Sciences, CCMAR-CIMAR, University of the Algarve, Gambelas Campus, 8005-139 Faro, Portugal Full list of author information is available at the end of the article To date some studies have addressed population differentiation in E. superba, using allozymes, mitochondrial DNA and EST-linked microsatellite markers [5,6,7,8,9,10,11].
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