Multiplex PCR sets of novel microsatellite loci for the great scallop Pecten maximus and their application in parentage assignment

¹ Institut Universitaire Européen de la Mer, Laboratoire des sciences de l’environnement marin, LEMAR, UMR 6539, rue Dumont d’Urville, 29280 Plouzané, France
² Ifremer, Laboratoire de génétique et pathologie des mollusques marins, 17390 La Tremblade, France
³ Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences – Tjärnö, University of Gothenburg, 45296 Strömstad, Sweden
⁴ Université de Montpellier II, UMR CNRS 5554, UMR 226, Institut des Sciences de l’Evolution de Montpellier, Place E. Bataillon, cc63, 34095 Montpellier Cedex 5, France
⁵ Ifremer, Laboratoire des sciences de l’environnement marin, BP 70, 29280 Plouzané, France

^a Corresponding author: jean.laroche@univ-brest.fr

Received: 12 November 2012
Accepted: 20 March 2013

Abstract

We report the isolation, development and multiplex optimisation of 12 new microsatellite loci for the great scallop, Pecten maximus. Diversity was moderate to high, with number of alleles ranging from 4 to 20 and observed heterozygosity between 0.28 and 0.88. Progeny produced in a commercial hatchery was used to test locus power for parentage assignment. The percentage of offspring that was unambiguously assigned to a unique pair of parents was 97% (software package CERVUS-COLONY). Parentage assignment revealed that 22% of the studied progeny resulted from unplanned crosses. Effective population size of the study progeny was also estimated. Our study illustrates the power of microsatellites for the genetic monitoring of hatchery-produced great scallops.