Isolation, characterization and cross-salmonid amplification of 31 microsatellite loci in the lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis, Mitchill)

Coregonine fish represent the most successful evolutionary lineage of salmonids with Coregonus as the most speciose salmonid genus inhabiting numerous postglacial lakes across the northern hemisphere. We isolated and characterized 31 polymorphic microsatellite loci in Coregonus clupeaformis with an average number of 5.3 alleles per locus (range three to eight) and an overall expected heterozygosity of 0.74 +/- 0.11. Two loci revealed significant linkage associations through analyses of mapping families. Six additional salmonid taxa assessed for cross-species amplification revealed between 18 and 26 positive amplifications and between two and 12 polymorphic loci per species.