Characterization of 25 single nucleotide polymorphism markers in the pearl oyster Pinctada martensii (Dunker)

Twenty-five single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers were developed and characterized from the expressed sequence tags of the pearl oyster Pinctada martensii in this study. The SNP genotyping of the wild population and an artificially bred population was analyzed using unlabeled probe high resolution melting. All the loci contained two alleles, and the minor allele frequency ranged from 0.117 to 0.494. The observed and expected heterozygosities ranged from 0.234 to 0.767 and from 0.207 to 0.726 respectively. Three loci deviated significantly from Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium, and significant linkage dis-equilibrate was detected in two pairs of markers. Two loci deviated significantly from the Mendelian ratios (P < 0.05), suggesting that these two sites may be subject to selection pressure. Markers developed in this study can be used for population evaluation, parentage analysis and genetic improvement in P. martensii.