Cross-genus amplification and characterisation of microsatellite loci in the large-eared free tailed bat, Otomops (Chiroptera: Molossidae) from Africa and Madagascar

Primers developed for the Brazilian free-tailed bat, Tadarida brasiliensis , were successfully used to cross-amplify microsatellite loci in two Afro-tropical Otomops species. Seventy one (71) bats from two species were genotyped for two dinucleotide and four tetranucleotide loci, yielding 1 to 15 alleles per locus. For the combined sample, the observed and expected heterozygosities ranged from 0.125 to 1.000 and 0.125 to 0.919, respectively. The polymorphism information content (PIC) values were 0.295 to 0.905 (mean 0.687) for Otomops martiensseni and 0.110 to 0.797 (mean 0.442) for Otomops madagascariensis. Five O. martiensseni loci deviated significantly from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. These six loci provide genetic markers that will be useful in investigating the population genetic structure of Afro-Arabian O. martiensseni and Malagasy O. madagascariensis , with potential application to Asian species of Otomops and possibly other genera within the Molossidae. Keywords: Bats, Otomops, Chiroptera, microsatellites, Molossidae, cross-genus amplification African Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(27), pp. 4233-4237