Characterization of 79 microsatellite DNA markers in the Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas

We characterized 79 microsatellite DNA markers, which were obtained from genomic libraries enriched for CA, GA, ATG and TAGA motif repeats, in the Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas. For eight F1 grandparents or great-grandparents of mapping families, the average heterozygosity, 0.705, and average number of alleles per locus, 5.7, did not vary among motif-repeat or motif-complexity categories. Non-amplifying polymerase chain reaction null alleles, which were confirmed by segregation in the mapping families, were detected at 41 (51.9%) of the 79 loci. Cross-species amplifications from C. angulata, C. sikamea, C. ariakensis and C. virginica showed a precipitous decline with distance from the focal species C. gigas.