Characterization of 20 microsatellite loci by multiplex PCR in swimming crab, Portunus trituberculatus

The swimming crab, Portunus trituberculatus (Crustacea: Decapoda: Brachyura), is one of the most important fishery resources in East Asia. The aim of this work is to develop microsatellite multiplex PCR systems for 20 microsatellites which were isolated from a microsatellite-enriched genomic library and to explore the genetic diversity of P. trituberculatus captured in the coastal regions of the Yellow Sea in Korea. We prepared four multiplex PCR systems (two hexplex and tetraplex systems each) which could be used for the genotyping of 20 markers. Most markers in this system are highly informative with mean polymorphism information contents and observed heterozygosity of 0.913 and 0.930. The total number of alleles observed in this study was 724, and the mean allelic number per locus was 36.2. Significant deviations from the Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium (HWE) were observed at six loci in the Wonsando Island population, but all the loci deviated from the HWE in the Jeonjangpo population. The genetic differentiation between the two populations and the phylogenetic tree constructed by the unweighted pair group method with the arithmetic average suggested that there is no significant genetic difference between Wonsando Island and Jeonjangpo populations. The prepared multiplex PCR systems and population genetic data will be helpful to study phylogeographic analysis as well as to prepare strategies of stock management and aquaculture of P. trituberculatus.