Screening of polymorphic microsatellite markers in the plateau zokor based on transcriptome sequencing

The second generation of high-throughput sequencing technology was used for transcriptional sequencing of the brain tissue of the plateau zokor (Eospalax baileyi). Microsatellite markers were screened, their composition and characteristics were analyzed, and their polymorphisms were examined, which laid a foundation for the development of microsatellite markers in the plateau zokor. The results showed that among the 29 090 microsatellite markers obtained, the main repeat types were mononucleotide repeats A/T (54.31%), followed by the dinucleotide repeats CA/TG (10.46%), and other base repeat types only accounted for 16.79%. A total of 104 microsatellite loci were randomly selected for primer design, and 43 loci were successfully amplified. After 12 polymorphic loci were detected by capillary electrophoresis, we found that the number of alleles was 3～12, the observed heterozygosity (Ho) was 0.263～0.937, with an average value of 0.651, and the expected heterozygosity (He) was 0.285～0.844, with an average value of 0.600. After Bonferroni correction, two microsatellite loci deviated significantly from Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium (P < 0.01), and no significant linkage disequilibrium was observed in the 10 microsatellite loci (P > 0.01). The polymorphism information content (PIC) ranged from 0.251 to 0.816, all loci were moderately polymorphic (0.250 < PIC < 0.500), and seven microsatellite loci were highly polymorphic (PIC > 0.500). These microsatellite markers provided basic data for the identification of parental relationships and population genetics of the plateau zokor.