Development and characterization of 38 microsatellite makers for Manila clam (Ruditapes philippinarum)

Thirty-eight polymorphic microsatellite makers were developed and characterized from expressed sequence tag sequence of the Manila clam, Ruditapes philippinarum . The number of alleles at each locus ranged from 2 to 13 with an average of six alleles per locus. The observed and expected heterozygosity varied from 0.036 to 0.719 and from 0.105 to 0.868, respectively. These microsatellite loci will be useful for further investigation of population structure and conversation genetics of this species.