MICROSATELLITE CROSS-AMPLIFICATION FOR POPULATION GENETIC STUDIES IN SHRIMP SPECIES OF THE GENUS LITOPENAEUS IN COLOMBIA

Abstract

Microsatellites are molecular markers frequently used in population genetic studies despite of the high cost, and long time involved in developing them, mainly due to their high specificity. One method to save money and time is cross-amplification, which is the DNA amplification of the target species using primers developed for a different species. By using cross-amplification, the suitability of 15 developed microsatellite loci from Litopenaeus setiferus and L. vannamei to amplify microsatellite regions of L. schmitti and L. occidentalis was evaluated. Five primers showed consistent amplification and were polymorphic in L. schmitti and four in L. occidentalis. These results point out the usefulness of cross-amplification with these primers for population genetics studies of both species.