Microsatellite Development for the Largespring Gambusia, Gambusia Geiseri
Date
2008-04-26
Authors
Cureton II, James
Lutterschmidt, Ph.D, William
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Sam Houston State University. Elliott T. Bower's Honor College
Abstract
Description
The largespring gambusia (Gambusia geiseri) is a live-bearing, spring-dwelling fish of the family Poeciliidae that is habitat sensitive and survives only in large, cool springs. In an attempt to reduce mosquito populations seventy-five years ago, G. geiseri was mistakenly introduced into several rivers and springs all across Texas, resulting in several isolated populations in Texas. Microsatellites primers have become a common molecular marker used to investigate the genetic makeup of populations. Microsatellites are repeated segments of DNA that can be used to investigate multiple paternity questions as well as hybridization and genetic divergence across populations. Deaton et al. (in prep) have shown significant genetic divergence at eight microsatellite loci across six populations of G. geiseri throughout Central and West Texas. However, they used microsatellite primers developed for G. affinis, which are not highly compatible with G. geiseri. In an attempt to expand the study by Broughton et al. to other populations of G. geiseri and at additional microsatellite loci, we currently are developing microsatellite primers specific to G. geiseri. These primers for G. geiseri will be used to assess genetic variation and differentiation within and among several isolated populations of G. geiseri and to investigate multiple paternities across isolated populations.
Keywords
Microsatellites (Genetics), Gambusia geiseri