Isolation and characterization of seven tetranucleotide microsatellite loci from Atlantic northern bluefin tuna Thunnus thynnus thynnus

Microsatellite-enriched genomic libraries were obtained from the Atlantic northern bluefin tuna, Thunnus thynnus thynnus and seven tetranucleotide markers were successfully isolated and characterized from this library. These markers were found to have between 1 and 17 alleles in Atlantic northern bluefin tuna and heterozygosity ranged from 0 to 0.85. No deviations from the expectation of Hardy-Weinburg equilibrium were found for any marker. Several of these markers amplify reliably in other tuna species.