A preliminary genetic map of Zhikong scallop (Chlamys farreri Jones et Preston 1904)

Zhikong scallop (Chlamys farreri Jones et Preston 1904) is one of the most important aquaculture species in China. The development of a genetic linkage map would provide a powerful tool for the genetic improvement of this species. Amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) is a PCR-based technique that has proven to be powerful in genome fingerprinting and mapping, and population analysis. Genetic maps of C. farreri were constructed using AFLP markers and a full-sib family with 60 progeny. A total of 503 segregating AFLP markers were obtained, with 472 following the Mendelian segregation ratio of 1:1 and 31 markers showing significant (P < 0.05) segregation distortion. The male map contained 166 informative AFLP markers in 23 linkage groups covering 2468 cM. The average distance between markers was 14.9 cM. The female genetic map consisted of 198 markers in 25 linkage groups spanning 3130 cM with an average inter-marker spacing of 15.8 cM. DNA polymorphisms that segregated in a 3:1 ratio as well as the AFLP markers that were heterozygous in both parents were included to construct combined linkage genetic map. Five shared linkage groups, ranging from 61.1 to 162.5 cM, were identified between the male and female maps, covering 431 cM. Amplified fragment length polymorphism markers appeared to be evenly distributed within the linkage groups. Although preliminary, these maps provide a starting point for the mapping of the functional genes and quantitative trait loci in C. farreri.