Inheritance mode of microsatellite DNA markers and their use for kinship estimation in kuruma prawn Penaeus japonicus

Abstract

The allelic inheritance mode of microsatellite DNA markers was examined using seven copulated wild females and their offspring. Five microsatellite loci, CSPJ002*, CSPJ010*, CSPJ012*, CSPJ014*, and CSPJ015*, were used in the study. At almost all family/locus combinations, one sire was determined and distributions of genotypes in offspring were consistent with the Mendelian segregation ratio. Distributions of genotypes were consistent with the ratio after assuming a null allele at some loci. Consequently, the alleles of CSPJ002* and CSPJ012* were inherited following the Mendelian inheritance mode in every family; however, the null allele was expected in CSPJ010*, CSPJ014*, and CSPJ015* in some families. Thus, these loci should be used carefully in population genetic analysis, but siblings could be detected in the dendrograms based on unweighted pair-group method using arithmetic averages (UPMGA).