Evaluation of published microsatellites for paternity analysis in the pacific white shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei

Selection of male and female shrimp broodstock for the production of high-quality fry is a primary goal of selective breeding programs of economically important species. Mating a single male with multiple females or a single female with multiple mates following by determination of the performance of the progeny is one approach for the selection of suitable male broodstock. In these experiments, a single female of the Pacific white shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei was mated to two males using artificial insemination with a mixture of two spermatophores, one from each male. Paternity of 50 individual postlarvae was determined at the PL5 stage with microsatellite genetic markers, by comparing genotypes of the offspring with those of the males and female. The study was done in three crosses and using three microsatellite loci. Paternity of the offspring was successfully determined and it was also found that, in two out of three crosses, the percentage of offspring generated from different males was significantly different (P<0.01). The method could be relevant for future selection of male broodstock with desirable traits.