Abstract

Development and Transferability of Microsatellites Markers for Species of the Saltans Group of Drosophila (Diptera: Drosophilidae)

The microsatellite markers (SSRs) are highly polymorphic, fast evolving, and regarded as neutral markers. Due to these traits, they have been widely used in population studies. The development of specific SSRs for a given species opens possibilities for the application, by means of transferability, in population studies of other species that are phylogenetically related, thereby optimizing time and cost. This study describes, for the first time, 16 primers pairs developed for Drosophila sturtevanti, which were tested their transferability for 14 species of the saltans group of Drosophila. The adequate conditions of amplification were established by using 15 males of D. sturtevanti. The total percentage of transfer has been 49.45%. The species with the highest success rates of heterologous amplification have been included in the sturtevanti subgroup. Two microsatellite markers have amplified in all the species, whilst one would not amplify in any of the species of the saltans group. The data corroborate the use of the technique for the transferability of these oligonucleotides, which may be used in studies of genetic diversity and population structure of D. sturtevanti and other species of the saltans group of Drosophila

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