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Characterisation of nine microsatellite loci in the caecilian amphibian Boulengerula uluguruensis (Gymnophiona), and their cross-species utility in three congeneric species

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Abstract

We characterise nine polymorphic microsatellites for the caecilian amphibian Boulengerula (cf.) uluguruensis. We found between five and 13 alleles per locus in 17 individuals from six sites across four Eastern Arc Mountain blocks and coastal forest in Tanzania. In the population with the largest sample size (Uluguru North, n = 8), two loci deviated from Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium. We also report cross-species utility of these markers in three other Boulengerula species (B. taitanus, B. niedeni, and B. boulengeri), and populations representing potentially undescribed species, approximately proportionate to their phylogenetic divergence from B. uluguruensis. The loci have the potential to quantify reproductive success (in view of skin feeding, a unique mode of parental care) and to determine the genetic structure of local populations, providing vital information for conservation studies of this endangered and little studied genus.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Terry Burke for supporting this project. The microsatellite library was created at the Sheffield node of the NERC Biomolecular Analysis Facility and sequencing was performed at the Edinburgh node. The NERC Biomolecular Analysis Facility is funded by the Natural Environment Research Council, UK. We wish to thank Dr. Belgees Boufana at the University of Salford for her assistance in genotyping PCR products. We would like to thank the Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology (COSTECH research permit RCA 2001-272; RCA 2002-378-NA-2002-92; RCA 2007-153) and Wildlife Division for granting permission to conduct research in Tanzania and export these specimens. In particular we thank Nebo Mwina, Fredrick Ambwene Ligate, Julius Keyyu and H.M. Nguli. We thank Damaris Rotich and Patrick Malonza of the National Museums of Kenya. MW thanks Taita-Taveta district and the Kenyan Wildlife Service for issuing collecting permits and their assistance in conducting the fieldwork in 1995/1996. We are grateful to many people and organizations that provided material, support and advice, including Frontier-Tanzania, Uluguru Mountains Biodiversity Conservation Project, East Usambara Conservation Area Management Project, Leah Collett, Kathryn Doody, Roy Hinde, Kim Howell, Lucinda Lawson, Michele Menegon, Hendrik Müller and many local people in Tanzania and Kenya. The fieldwork work was funded by various organizations, including a NERC studentship (NER/S/A/2000/3366) to SL, a grant from the Systematics Association to SL, a DAPFT grant to SL, MW, and DG, the NHM Museum Research Fund to DG, MW and SL, and the Percy Sladen Memorial Fund to MW.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Environment and Life Sciences, University of Salford, Salford, M5 4WT, UK

    Christopher D. Barratt & Robert Jehle

  2. NERC Biomolecular Analysis Facility, Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Western Bank, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, S10 2TN, UK

    Gavin J. Horsburgh & Deborah A. Dawson

  3. Department of Zoology, The Natural History Museum, London, SW7 5BD, UK

    David J. Gower, Mark Wilkinson & Simon P. Loader

  4. Department of Environmental Sciences, Institute of Biogeography, University of Basel, 4056, Basel, Switzerland

    Simon P. Loader

Authors
  1. Christopher D. Barratt
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  2. Gavin J. Horsburgh
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  3. Deborah A. Dawson
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  4. David J. Gower
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  5. Mark Wilkinson
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  6. Simon P. Loader
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  7. Robert Jehle
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Christopher D. Barratt.

Appendix

Appendix

See Table 3.

Table 3 Details of Boulengerula samples used in this study
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Barratt, C.D., Horsburgh, G.J., Dawson, D.A. et al. Characterisation of nine microsatellite loci in the caecilian amphibian Boulengerula uluguruensis (Gymnophiona), and their cross-species utility in three congeneric species. Conservation Genet Resour 4, 225–229 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12686-011-9512-6

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