Development and utility of exon-primed intron-crossing markers in conservation of desert fishes

Authors: Roxanne Bautista, Jamie Gillis, Chenhong Li, Steve Parmenter, Yongjiu Chen, Frank Pezold

Year: 2010 (xlii)

Abstract

Nuclear DNA markers have become increasingly important in addressing conservation questions of various species; however, the availability and utility of these markers has been particularly limited for non-model organisms including desert fishes. Earlier work has attempted to use bioinformatic tools to identify a total of 210 exon-primed intron crossing (EPIC) markers and 12 primer pairs that allow amplification across a broad taxonomic range of teleost species. A considerable number of genetic markers across the genome are required in order to infer population structure and phylogenetic history. This study follows the earlier work to develop new primers for additional 24 EPICs. These primers are used to investigate a number of cyprinid and cyprinodont taxa that are endemic to deserts of North America. The intron and exon sequence variation is used to characterize intraspecific and interspecific differences between members of these taxa. Our work opens the possibility for genomic scale investigation of systematic and conservation problems in the desert fishes.