Isolation and characterization of 13 polymorphic microsatellite loci for the fig wasp, Ceratosolen sp. (Hymenoptera: Agaonidae)

Abstract

Fig wasps are short-lived, delicate and weak-flying. Their long-distance dispersal is highly dependent on the air flow above the canopy. The life forms of their host Ficus species determine their place of release, and so their ability of entering the fast-flowing air above the canopy. Ficus tikoua Bur. is a dioecious prostrate shrub with partially buried figs. Its breeding system and growth form are consistent with limited dispersal ability and high genetic differentiation between populations of its pollinating fig wasps. Highly polymorphic microsatellite loci will allow detection of fine-scale genetic structure in its pollinator, and elucidate co-evolutionary dynamics with its host. We developed 13 polymorphic microsatellite loci for Ceratosolen sp. (Agaonidae), the obligate pollinating fig wasp of F. tikoua. The validity and polymorphism of each primer was tested in three populations from Southwest China. No significant linkage disequilibrium was detected between any locus pairs. Overall, allele numbers per locus ranged from 2 to 17. At population level, the observed and expected heterozygosities ranged from 0 to 0.833 and from 0 to 0.840, respectively. These polymorphic loci will be a helpful tool for screening genetic variation within the pollinator of F. tikoua and relating variation to that of its host.