Microsatellite primer development for the king ratsnakes Elaphe carinata (Colubridae)

The king ratsnakes (Elaphe carinata) is widespread in south-eastern China, North Vietnam, and Japan (Ryukyu Islands). The snake is listed as a vulnerable species according to the China Red Data Book of Endangered Animals. To develop effective conservation strategies for the snake, we need a better understanding of gene flow, population structure and evolutionary history of this species by using kinds of molecular markers such as mitochondrial DNA and microsatellite loci. Here, we characterize 12 polymorphic microsatellite loci isolated from E. carinata genomic libraries. One hundred and thirty-one individuals were collected from three geographically distant populations: Ji’an (Jiangxi, N26°59′30″, E114°58′58″), Quanzhou (Guangxi, N25°44′20″, E111°6′48″), Zhijiang (Hunan, N27°20′36″, E109°8′46″). These markers revealed a high degree of genetic diversity (6–20 alleles per locus) and heterozygosity (H _O ranged from 0.326 to 0.894, and H _E ranged from 0.542 to 0.918). No locus exhibited significant deviations from Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium. There was no evidence of linkage disequilibrium among pairs of loci. These microsatellite markers will be useful for the study of gene flow, population structure and evolutionary history of E. carinata.