Microsatellites for the Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus laniarius)

The Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus laniarius), a medium-sized predator/scavenger, is the largest member of the short-lived carnivorous marsupial Family Dasyuridae. Now restricted to Tasmania, populations are impacted by habitat clearance and anthropogenic mortality and genetic studies could be of value in informing levels of genetic diversity, mating system, dispersal and the effects of natural and anthropogenic landscape features on gene flow. Microsatellite markers were isolated from a partial, size-selected genomic library that was enriched for microsatellite sequences. Primer pairs were developed for 11 polymorphic dinucleotide microsatellite loci that conform with Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium and reveal moderate genetic variability across the species range.