Abstract
Eight polymorphic microsatellite loci were identified in the Australian tree frog, Litoria ewingii, for studying patterns of hybridization with the closely related species L. paraewingi, using a microsatellite enriched genomic library. Across 55 individuals of L. ewingii and L. paraewingi, the mean number of alleles per locus was Na = 9.38 and Na = 7.13, respectively. All loci successfully cross-amplified in the remaining species in the Litoria ewingii complex, including the threatened sub-species L. verreauxii alpina. These loci will be useful in resolving species boundaries and exploring hybridization between species in the Litoria ewingii complex.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References:
Barker J, Grigg G, Tyler M (1995) A field guide to Australian frogs. Surrey Beatty and Sons, Chipping Norton, NSW, Australia
Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts (2010). Litoria verreauxii alpina in species profile and threats database, Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts, Canberra. Available from: http://www.environment.gov.au/sprat. Accessed 12 Oct 2010
Drummond AJ, Ashton B, Cheung M, Heled J, Kearse M, Moir R, Stones-Havas S, Thierer T, Wilson A (2009) Geneious v4.7. Available from http://www.geneious.com/
Edwards KJ, Barker JHA, Daly A, Jones C, Karp A (1996) Microsatellite libraries enriched for several microsatellite sequences in plants. Biotechniques 20:758–760
Hale JM, Heard GW, Smith KL, Blacket MJ, Austin JJ, Melville J (2011) Microsatellite loci for the endangered growling grass frog (Litoria raniformis), with cross amplification in other Australian frog species. Conserv Genet Res doi:10.1007/s12686-011-9412-9
James EA, Brown GK, Citroen R, Rossetto M, Porter C (2011) Development of microsatellite 135 loci in Triglochin procera (Juncaginaceae), a polyploid wetland plant. Conserv Genet Res 3:103–105
Jones KC, Levine KF, Banks JD (2002) Characterization of 11 polymorphic tetranucleotide microsatellites for forensic application in California elk (Cervus elaphus canadensis). Mol Ecol Notes 2:425–427
Kalinowski ST, Taper ML (2006) Maximum likelihood estimation of the frequency of null alleles at microsatellite loci. Conserv Genet 7:991–995
Littlejohn MJ (1982) Litoria ewingi in Australia: a consideration of indigenous populations, and their interactions with two closely related species. In: Newman DG (ed) New Zealand herpetology. New Zealand Wildlife Services, Wellington, pp 113–135
Littlejohn MJ, Watson GF (1985) Hybrid zones and homogamy in Australian frogs. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 16:85–112
Margulies M, Egholm M, Altman WE, Attiya S et al (2005) Genome sequencing in 139 microfabricated high-density picolitre reactors. Nature 437:376–380
Peakall R, Smouse PE (2006) GENALEX 6: genetic analysis in Excel. Population genetic software for teaching and research. Mol Ecol Notes 6:288–295
Raymond M, Rousset F (1995) GENEPOP (version 1.2): population genetics software for exact tests and ecumenicism. J Hered 86:248–249
Rozen S, Skaletsky HJ (2000) Primer3 on the WWW for general users and for biologist programmers. In: Krawetz S, Misener S (eds) Bioinformatics methods and protocols: methods in molecular biology. Humana Press, Totowa, pp 365–386
Schuelke M (2000) An economic method for the fluorescent labeling of PCR fragments. Nat Biotechnol 18:233–234
Acknowledgments
We thank M. Blacket for assistance with microsatellite screening and K. Howard and N. Clemman for providing Litoria verreauxii alpina samples. Tissue samples were collected under research permits issued by DSE Victoria. Research funding was provided by the ARC to JM and JJA.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Smith, K.L., Hale, J.M., Austin, J.J. et al. Isolation and characterization of microsatellite markers for the Litoria ewingii complex and their use in conservation and hybridization studies. Conservation Genet Resour 3, 621–624 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12686-011-9418-3
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12686-011-9418-3