Isolation and characterization of microsatellite loci in the short-tailed pit viper Gloydius brevicaudus (Viperidae)

Abstract

The short-tailed pit viper Gloydius brevicaudus is a medium-sized, viviparous, highly venomous snake that has an exclusively temperate distribution ranging from eastern China to Korea. The snake is listed as a vulnerable species according to the China Red Data Book of Endangered Animals. To develop effective conservation strategies for the snake, we need a better understanding of gene flow, population structure and evolutionary history of this species. One approach for achieving this goal is to use microsatellites. Here, we characterize 8 polymorphic microsatellite loci isolated from G. brevicaudus genomic libraries. Twelve individuals were collected from Xiaoshan population in Zhejiang, China. These markers revealed a high degree of genetic diversity (7–16 alleles per locus) and heterozygosity (HO ranged from 0.667–1.000, and HE ranged from 0.822 to 0.960). No locus exhibited significant deviations from Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium. There was no evidence of linkage disequilibrium among pairs of loci. These microsatellite markers will be useful for future studies focusing on paternity test, population structure and evolutionary history of G. brevicaudus.