Microsatellite DNA markers for mating systems analysis in the Leishan moustache toad (Vibrissaphora leishanensis)

Abstract

Mating systems have important implications for understanding the population and evolutionary dynamics of species. However, most theoretical and empirical work on vertebrate mating systems has focused on bird and mammalian species, and the mating systems of amphibian remain poorly understood. To better understand the mating systems of amphibian, in this study we describe the isolation and characterization of ten polymorphic microsatellite loci in the Leishan moustache toad (Vibrissaphora leishanensis) from genomic DNA-enriched libraries. The number of alleles per polymorphic locus in 24 individuals ranged from 2 to 15, the average observed and expected heterozygosity per locus ranged from 0.333 to 0.875 and from 0.284 to 0.916, respectively. All polymorphic loci followed Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium. No evidence of significant linkage association between locus pairs was found. These polymorphic loci will be useful in studying mating systems of the Leishan moustache toad.