Pinctada maxima Variation

Pearl oysters are extensively cultured for the production of gemstone quality pearls and are rapidly becoming model organisms for investigating genetic mechanisms of biomineralization. However, despite their economic and scientific importance, limited genomic resources are available for this important group of bivalves (i.e. genetic marker resources, dense genetic maps, or quantitative trait loci), limiting our understanding of the quantitative genetic basis underlying commercial traits and hampering the instigation of molecular informed breeding techniques into the pearling industry. The objective of this study was to develop and validate a large number of genome wide SNPs for Pinctada maxima suitable for high-throughput genotyping assays.