Isolation and characterization of microsatellite loci in the Caribbean gorgonian Pseudopterogorgia elisabethae.

We report on the isolation and characterization of five polymorphic microsatellites in the gorgonian Pseudopterogorgia elisabethae from genomic DNA-enriched libraries. Forty-four microsatellites were screened from the libraries with the oligonucleotide probe (CA)12. Five of the screened microsatellites were polymorphic. The levels of polymorphism found in 50 genotyped individuals from a single population suggest that microsatellites are useful tools for the study of genetic variation in gorgonians. These are the first microsatellite loci reported from any gorgonian species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]