Assignment of parentage by microsatellite analysis in the endangered Brachymystax lenok tsinlingensis (Salmonidae)

Abstract

We evaluated the use of microsatellite markers to identify parentage in Brachymystax lenok tsinlingensis Li, 1966, an endangered salmonid. Computer simulations showed that when no parent information was available, or when information was only available from 1 parent, then exclusion probabilities ranged from 23.6 to 45.1% and from 25.9 to 52.4%, respectively; combined exclusion probabilities for the 8 loci investigated were 97.7 and 98.4%, respectively. However, a breeding experiment with known parental and filial information resulted in 91.28% of progeny being exclusively assigned to their correct parent pair. Our data demonstrate that microsatellite-based parentage assignment is a reliable means with which to obtain information pertaining to genealogical relationships and could therefore benefit genetic conservation of this species.