Screening of polymorphic microsatellites and their application for Saccharina angustata and Saccharina longissima population genetic analysis

Abstract

Saccharina angustata and S. longissima are ecologically and economically important seaweeds. So far, no microsatellite marker was available to S. angustata and S. longissima due to a lack of genomic data. Here, we developed polymorphic simple sequence repeats (SSRs) in S. longissima and S. angustata and applied these markers for further population genetic analysis. Cross-amplification tests showed that 11 SSR loci exhibited high amplification rate in S. angustata and S. longissima. Polymorphic information content values (PIC) of 11 loci showed 10 loci (PIC = 0.552–0.908), except for SJ31 (PIC = 0.482), have high polymorphism (PIC > 0.5). Polymorphism tests indicated that 10 loci have high polymorphism in three varieties of S. japonica and two related species. Genetic diversity analysis confirmed the validation of these markers in accessing the genetic diversity level of these kelps. STRUCTURE and NJ tree results indicated these 10 microsatellites are effective in evaluating the genetic relationship among different kelp populations. As results, these 10 polymorphic microsatellite markers are valid to Saccharina genetic analysis.