Isolation and characterization of microsatellites in Chinese sturgeon,Acipenser sinensis

From (GATA)_n and (AAAG)_n enriched genomic libraries for the Chinese sturgeon (Acipenser sinensis), 50 primer pairs were developed using the fast isolation by AFLP of sequences containing repeats (FIASCO) protocol. Forty‐six primer pairs exhibited highly polymorphic with two to 11 alleles per locus, while the rest four displayed monomorphic. These markers yielded 246 alleles in a survey of eight specimens of wild A. sinensis. Average observed heterozygosity ranged from 0.13 to 1.00. These loci should provide sufficient levels of genetic diversity to allow parentage analysis for artificial stocking management and delineation of fine‐scale population structure.