Characteristics of microsatellite loci in Odonata

Abstract

Microsatellite loci have become the genetic markers of choice for population-level molecular ecological studies. However, microsatellite loci had been isolated for comparatively few species of odonate until the past five years. This review summarises the main characteristics – expected heterozygosity and microsatellite length – of 116 microsatellite loci that have been isolated from the genomes of 11 odonate species and discusses potential problems associated with using microsatellite loci to study odonate biology. It is clear that odonates are characterised by relatively short microsatellites, typically less than 10 core motifs, that demonstrate a high level of heterozygote deficits. Some reasons why some odonate species have particularly low levels of gene diversity are discussed also.

Keywords: Odonata, dragonfly, genome structure, genetic marker, microsatellites, molecular ecology

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