Journal of Phylogenetics & Evolutionary Biology

The Potential Utility of Microsatellite Markers for Resolving the Phylogeographic Structure of the Rock Shell (Thais clavigera) in the Northwest Pacific

Abstract

Mrinal Mishra#, Shuang Liang#, Caihuan Ke, Shaoxiong Ding* and Michael M. Miyamoto

Rapidly evolving loci, such as microsatellites, can offer insights into the phylogeography of a species that are not revealed by more slowly-evolving genetic markers. In this short communication, the potential utility of these markers to resolve the phylogeography of the Chinese rock shell (Thais clavigera) is examined with three microsatellite loci for nine geographic samples. Phylogenetic and population genetic analyses of these preliminary data both support phylogeographic structure that implicates the Changjiang River and Taiwan Strait as population breakpoints and long distance dispersal as a major organizing factor of the species’ geographic variation. Our phylogeographic structure, which is congruent with the findings of previous population genetic studies for this and other marine species, highlights the potential utility of microsatellite markers for the determination of rock shell phylogeography. We now call for a comprehensive microsatellite study to complement the extensive mitochondrial DNA results that already exist for the rock shell throughout its range.