Development and characterization of a multiplex panel of microsatellite markers for the Reunion free-tailed bat Mormopterus francoismoutoui

Muriel Dietrich; Gildas Le Minter; Magali Turpin; Pablo Tortosa

doi:10.7717/peerj.8036

Development and characterization of a multiplex panel of microsatellite markers for the Reunion free-tailed bat Mormopterus francoismoutoui

PeerJ. 2019 Dec 12:7:e8036. doi: 10.7717/peerj.8036. eCollection 2019.

Authors

Muriel Dietrich¹, Gildas Le Minter¹, Magali Turpin¹, Pablo Tortosa¹

Affiliation

¹ UMR PIMIT (Processus Infectieux en Milieu Insulaire Tropical), Université de la Réunion/ INSERM 1187/CNRS 9192/IRD 249, Sainte-Clotilde, Réunion Island.

Abstract

The ecology and conservation status of many island-restricted bats remain largely unexplored. The free-tailed bat Mormopterus francoismoutoui is a small insectivorous tropical bat, endemic to Reunion Island (Indian Ocean). Despite being widely distributed on the island, the fine-scale genetic structure and evolutionary ecology of M. francoismoutoui remain under-investigated, and therefore its ecology is poorly known. Here, we used Illumina paired-end sequencing to develop microsatellite markers for M. francoismoutoui, based on the genotyping of 31 individuals from distinct locations all over the island. We selected and described 12 polymorphic microsatellite loci with high levels of heterozygosity, which provide novel molecular markers for future genetic population-level studies of M. francoismoutoui.

Keywords: Bats; Illumina; Microsatellites; Mormopterus francoismoutoui; Reunion Island.

Grants and funding

This research was supported by the French National Research Agency (ANR JCJC SEXIBAT) and by European Regional Development Funds ERDF PO INTERREG V ECOSPIR number RE6875. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.