The use of de novo developed microsatellite markers for population genetic study of Dactylogyrus vistulae populations

Widespread species with preserved gene flow among populations are supposed to display higher levels of genetic variability in contrast to endemic species with small and fragmented populations. Dactylogyrus vistulae represent a generalist monogenean parasite with a high number of fish host species. Will genetic variability differ between D. vistulae infecting widespread and endemic species? Microsatellite markers for D. vistulae were de novo developed using Illumina MiSeq platform. QDD program was used for selecting suitable microsatellite markers and primer design. Based on 30 polymorphic microsatellites, STRUCTURE and GenAlEx programs were applied for the study of genetic structure and variability of D. vistulae populations parasitizing widespread fish species sampled in Czech Republic with Euro-Asian distribution and geographically isolated fish species of Mediterranean region (i.e. Greece, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Italy and Croatia). Based on preliminary results, populations of D. vistulae clustered into two groups separating D. vistulae populations of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Italy from those of remaining countries. Overall, no considerable differences in genetic variability were revealed when D. vistulae infecting fish originating from Czech Republic and Mediterranean region were compared. However, low variability in D. vistulae populations was detected in several particular endemic host species. Genetic variability of D. vistulae populations might, therefore, reflect genetic variability of their hosts. Study involving genetic variability of parasite hosts is further needed in order to support this hypothesis. However, microsatellite markers seem to represent valuable tools for the study of genetic structure and variability of D. vistulae populations.