Low levels of polymorphism at novel microsatellite loci developed for bathyergid mole-rats from South Africa

Abstract

Eight microsatellite markers were developed for African mole-rats using the Fast Isolation by AFLP of Sequences Containing repeats (FIASCO) protocol and pyrosequencing. The markers were developed in Bathyergus suillus and applied to a selection of individuals from seven related taxa: Bathyergus janetta, Cryptomys hottentotus hottentotus, C. h. pretoriae, Fukomys damarensis, F. darlingi, F. mechowii and Georychus capensis. The markers displayed low to moderate variation with allele numbers ranging between one and six per species. We propose that larger repeat numbers at di-, tri- and tetranucleotide repeat loci generally yield higher levels of polymorphism.