Microsatellite loci in the Canary Islands endemic ground beetle Trechus flavocinctus and their applicability to cave-dwelling related species

Abstract

Six polymorphic microsatellite markers have been developed for the Canary endemic ground beetle Trechus flavocinctus, and the performance of primer pairs amplifying these loci in closely related taxa (including two cave-obliged species) has been tested. The number of alleles in T. flavocinctus samples taken from three distant localities in two islands ranged from four to 14 per locus. Observed heterozygosities were from 0.333 to 0.933. These markers could be useful tools to study the population structure and the genetic consequences of island and cave colonization by ground beetles.