Genome-wide survey of Tribolium castaneum microsatellites and description of 509 polymorphic markers

We survey the Tribolium castaneum whole genome sequence for 1-6 bp microsatellite motifs. Of the > 12 000 microsatellites discovered, we screened 981 primer pairs which yielded 509 polymorphic markers. We report polymorphism data for pooled DNA samples from three to 11 geographically widespread T. castaneum populations as well as heterozygosity for a subset of the markers. The composition and chromosomal distribution of microsatellites is briefly discussed in relation to previous studies.