New microsatellite loci for the green sea urchin Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis using universal M13 labelled markers

Abstract

BackgroundThe green sea urchin Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis has a wide circumpolar distribution and plays a key role in coastal ecosystems worldwide by destructively grazing macroalgae beds and turn them into marine deserts, so-called barren grounds. In the past decades, large established kelp forests have been overgrazed and transformed to such barren grounds on the Norwegian coast. This has important repercussions for the coastal diversity and production, including reproduction of several fish species relying on the kelp forests as nurseries. Genetic diversity is an important parameter for the study and further anticipation of this large scale phenomenon.FindingsMicrosatellites were developed using a Norwegian S. droebachiensis individual primarily for the study of Northeast Atlantic populations. The 10 new microsatellite loci were amplified using M13 forward tails, enabling the use of M13 fluorescent tagged primers for multiplex reading. Among these loci, 2 acted polysomic and should therefore not be considered useful for population genetic analysis. We screened 96 individuals sampled from 4 different sites along the Norwegian coast which have shown unexpected diversity.ConclusionsThe new microsatellite loci should be a useful resource for further research into connectivity among S. droebachiensis populations, and assessing the risks for spreading and new overgrazing events.

Genetic diversity of the NE Atlantic sea urchin Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis unveils chaotic genetic patchiness possibly linked to local selective pressure

“…The HWE disequilibrium we observe on the 321 samples with all 8 loci (Table 2 ) is very similar to that observed with the 96 samples used to establish the microsatellite method (Anglès d’Auriac et al 2014 ), showing consistency in the observed disequilibrium. Such HWE disequilibrium has been previously observed in S. droebachiensis as for example with 3 of the 4 microsatellites used in a prior study (Addison and Hart 2004 ), hence suggesting that S. droebachiensis may naturally deviate from HWE as it has been reported to be the case for many other marine invertebrates (Brownlow et al 2008 ).Our findings have important implications for the risk of future grazing events.…”

“…Rapid crude DNA extraction using 96 % ethanol-preserved gonad tissue was performed as described in Anglès d’Auriac et al ( 2014 ). A total of 321 individuals were analysed using 10 microsatellites loci specifically developed for the Northeast Atlantic S. droebachiensis (Anglès d’Auriac et al 2014 ). Among these microsatellites, Strdro-837 and Strdro-849 acted as polysomic and were not included in the analysis.…”

“…The main aims of this study were to analyse genetic diversity and gene flow among S. droebachiensis populations in the NE Atlantic and assess possible links to physical features like ocean currents and fjord topography, as well as observed changes in this species distribution. Microsatellites recently developed for studying NE Atlantic populations were used in this study (Anglès d’Auriac et al 2014 ). We compared differentiation across the species’ geographical distribution in the NE Atlantic (i.e.…”

Efficient coralline algal psbA mini barcoding and High Resolution Melt (HRM) analysis using a simple custom DNA preparation

“…DNA preparation, often the first step in a molecular laboratory, can be time-consuming and expensive. Simple DNA preparation methods without purification steps have been developed for marine organisms such as mussels 28 sea urchins 29 and oysters 30 . Typical DNA preparation for coralline algae involves grinding or pulverization in liquid nitrogen, followed by extraction using commercially available kits 31,32 .…”