Isolation and characterization of di- and trinucleotide microsatellites in the freshwater snail Potamopyrgus antipodarum

The freshwater prosobranch snail Potamopyrgus antipodarum is an important model system for studying the maintenance of sexual reproduction in its native New Zealand. Since introduction to the UK in the 1850s, the species has spread throughout Europe and recently the USA. We present the first microsatellites for P. antipodarum. Using two isolation protocols, which are qualitatively compared, we have developed PCR primers for three di- and four trinucleotide microsatellites. All loci proved to be polymorphic, when screened for variability in several UK populations. These markers should be of considerable utility in future population and ecological genetics studies of this species.