Development of tools to rapidly identify cryptic species and characterize their genetic diversity in different European kelp species

• Autor(a) principal: Mauger, Stéphane
• Data de Publicação: 2021
• Outros Autores: Fouqueau, Louise, Avia, Komlan, Reynes, Lauric, Serrao, Ester, Neiva, J., Valero, Myriam
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.1/17278
• topic: Genetic diversity; Microsatellite markers; Cross-amplifcation; Species identifcation; Brown seaweed

Marine ecosystems formed by kelp forests are severely threatened by global change and local coastline disturbances in many regions. In order to take appropriate conservation, mitigation, and restoration actions, it is crucial to identify the most diverse populations which could serve as a “reservoir” of genetic diversity. This requires the development of specifc tools, such as microsatellite markers to investigate the level and spatial distribution of genetic diversity. Here, we tested new polymorphic microsatellite loci from the genome of the kelp, Laminaria digitata, and tested them for cross-amplifcation and polymorphism in four closely related congeneric species (Laminaria hyperborea, Laminaria ochroleuca, Laminaria rodriguezii, and Laminaria pallida). Adding these 20 new microsatellite loci to the ten L. digitata loci previously developed by Billot et al. (Mol Ecol 7:1778-1780, 1998) and Brenan et al. (J R Soc Interface 11:1-12, 2014) and to the ten L. ochroleuca loci previ ously developed by Coelho et al. (Conserv Genet Resource 6:949-950, 2014), we retained a total of 30 polymorphic loci for L. digitata, 21 for L. hyperborea, 16 for L ochroleuca, 18 for L. rodriguezii, and 12 for L. pallida. These markers have been tested for the frst time in the last two species. As predicted, the proportion of markers that cross-amplifed between species decreased with increasing genetic distance. In addition, as problems of species identifcation were reported in this family, mainly between L. digitata and Hedophyllum nigripes, but also between L. digitata, L. hyperborea, and L. ochroleuca in areas where their range distributions overlap, we report a rapid PCR identifcation method based on species-specifc COI mitochondrial primers that allows these four species of kelp to be rapidly distinguished.