Stewart, E C;Pasachnik, Stesha A;Montgomery, Chad E;Hudman, S P
Characterization of 22 polymorphic microsatellite loci for the black-chested spiny-tailed iguanas (Ctenosaura melanosterna) and cross-amplification success in four other Ctenosaura species
The Ctenosaura palearis complex (C. bakeri, C. melanosterna, C. palearis and C. oedirhina) comprises four endangered species. We isolated 22 polymorphic microsatellites from C. melanosterna and evaluated them for amplification success and polymorphism in the source population, two non-source populations, the three remaining C. palearis complex taxa, and C. similis. We observed C90% amplification success in the source population and discovered 2-9 alleles per locus with genetic diversity estimates (observed heterozygosity) ranging from 0.18 to 0.81. During cross amplification, 91% of the screened markers amplified for all groups, the proportion of polymorphic loci ranged from 0.55 to 0.95, and 35% of the markers were polymorphic for all groups. The markers presented here provide useful tools for population-level studies of the taxa in the C. palearis complex.