Seventy-five EST-linked Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) microsatellite markers and their cross-amplification in five salmonid species

An Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) expressed sequence tag (EST) database consisting of 58 146 ESTs was screened for microsatellite sequences. Subsequent development of 75 polymorphic EST-associated microsatellite markers in this species is described together with cross-species amplification results of 133 gene-associated tandem repeat markers in five salmonid species (Salmo trutta, Oncorhynchus mykiss, Salvelinus aplinus, Thymallus thymallus, Coregonus lavaretus). The number of alleles among EST-linked microsatellites in Atlantic salmon ranged from two to 41 with an average of 12 alleles per locus. Cross-species amplification resulted in detection of a total of ill polymorphic locus-species combinations (12-32 loci per species).