Isolation and characterization of 18 microsatellite loci in the Chinese Noctule bat, Nyctalus plancyi

Nyctalus plancyi is an endemic species restricted to China. Its population is declining drastically, because of habitat loss. Here, we describe 18 microsatellite loci that were isolated from N. plancyi. All loci were highly polymorphic. The number of alleles per locus ranged from 5 to 11. The observed and expected heterozygosity values per locus ranged from 0.391 to 0.957 and from 0.645 to 0.910, respectively. Two loci showed significant deviations from Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium, while no significant linkage disequilibrium was found between any pair of loci. These informative microsatellite markers will be a powerful molecular tool for studying population structure and mating system of N. plancyi.