Identification of 10 polymorphic microsatellite loci in the high montane gastropod Semilimax kotulae using high-throughput sequence data

Abstract

We used 454 pyrosequencing to establish microsatellite markers for the montane gastropod Semilimax kotulae. Ten polymorphic loci were identified. The number of alleles per locus ranged from two to five, the observed heterozygosity from 0.00 to 0.23, and the expected heterozygosity from 0.17 to 0.73. Half of the loci showed a significant heterozygote deficit. Individuals of the same sample plot which were homozygous for the same allele were observed at all loci, indicating self-fertilization (selfing) as reproductive mode. The target species is adapted to cool, montane habitats and is probably highly prone to changes of its environment due to global warming because of the lack of space to evade. The panel of identified microsatellites will be useful to assess the genetic constitution of S. kotulae and quantify the influence of global warming on this montane species.

Keywords:

• next generation sequencing
• short tandem repeats
• snail
• Vitrinidae
• climate change

Acknowledgements

The authors thank T. Käser, Ivan Nikolov, Elke Siegl, Christine Seidl and the staff of the Bavarian Forest National Park for help in the lab and for the support with field work. We also thank the anonymous reviewer for valuable comments which improved this manuscript remarkably.