Application of microsatellite DNA parentage markers in the swimming crab Portunus trituberculatus

Microsatellites have been a powerful genetic tool in determining pedigree relationships among individuals. A microsatellite marker suite can be used to reliably assign parentage in the Portunus trituberculatus selective breeding programs. Thirty published microsatellites were screened for their suitability to be included in a DNA parentage marker suite. Nineteen microsatellite markers that exhibited significant stutter, poor allele resolution, null allele, and significant deviation from Mendelian expectations were eliminated from the marker suite, and the left eleven markers were ranked by PIC. Six most polymorphic markers with mean He = 0.928 and PIC = 0.901 from the original eleven were further assessed for the efficiency of pedigree identification. Total predicted power of the markers to exclude false parents was higher than 99%. Both simulations and real data analysis confirmed the high statistical power of six microsatellites suite in parentage exclusion, which permit us to trace back all offspring to single pairs of parents.