Journal of the Marine Biological Association of India

High throughput development of microsatellite markers for yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) and silver pompano (Trachinotus blochii)

Volume 67 Issue 1

P. R. Divya, Linu Joy, P. Sunitha, Divya Merin Jose, V. S. Basheer, Rajeshkumar, Rajeev Kumar Singh, Vindhya Mohindra and Kuldeep K. Lal

doi:10.6024/jmbai.2025.67.1.2558-07

Abstract

Yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) constitutes approximately a quarter of all tuna catches, positioning it as the second-largest fishery among commercially significant tunas. Additionally, the Silver pompano (Trachinotus blochii) is another commercially important species in marine aquaculture. This study used PacBio RSII to develop well-characterized microsatellite markers for T. albacares and T. blochii, facilitating genetic stock identification and conservation management. A total of 2082 Mb and 2157 Mb polymerase read data was generated upon sequencing the 1.5 kb library of T. albacares and T. blochii, respectively. Marker panels were developed with 26 well-characterised polymorphic microsatellite loci in T. albacares and 36 loci in T. blochii. The Polymorphic Information Content (PIC) proved highly informative for both species, with values ranging from 0.623 to 0.924 in T. albacares and 0.31 to 0.89 in T. blochii. The average expected and observed heterozygosities were 0.77 and 0.73 for T. albacares, and 0.725 and 0.756 for T. blochii, respectively. Multiplex marker panels with 26 loci for T. albacres and 36 loci for T. blochii are developed as species-specific nuclear microsatellite markers, which allow the assessment of different population structures of the species across its distribution range, with more specificity. These loci in tuna have also been validated for cross-transferability in another widely distributed tuna species, Euthynnus affinis.

Keywords

Conservation genetics, Fishery resources, Microsatellites, Silver pompano, Yellowfin tuna

Date : 13-06-2025