Isolation and characterization of tetranucleotide microsatellites from Atlantic haddock (Melanogrammus aeglefinus)

Five tetranucleotide microsatellite loci developed from Atlantic haddock (Melanogrammus aeglefinus) are presented. Loci were isolated using a modified magnetic bead-hybridization selection procedure that enriched for tetranucleotide microsatellites. Loci were polymorphic (3-99 alleles per locus; mean, 33.2) and exhibited high levels of observed heterozygosity (0.07-0.99; mean, 0.73) in a sample of 70 haddock collected from the Scotian Shelf in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean. Primer sets for 5 tetranucleotide microsatellites, originally developed from cod (Gmo34), were also tested in Atlantic haddock; one pair yielded readily detectable product and was variable in the population assayed (29 alleles; heterozygosity, 0.96). These loci are suitable for kinship analyses in aquaculture-related applications, and are potentially useful for resolving population structure in the wild.