Developing 23 new polymorphic microsatellite markers and simulating parentage assignment in the Pacific bluefin tuna, Thunnus orientalis

Twenty-three new polymorphic microsatellite markers were isolated in the Pacific bluefin tuna, Thunnus orientalis. Each locus comprised three to 34 alleles. The expected and observed heterozygosities ranged between 0.46 and 0.96 and between 0.44 and 0.97, respectively. The Kto9, Kto11, and Kto42 markers demonstrated significant deviation from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium; high null allele frequencies (0.08-0.14) were observed in the deviating group. From the results of simulation of parentage assignment, a combination of four loci (i.e. Kto15, Kto23, Kto38, and Kto39) was considered the best for parentage assignment.