Abstract: 【Aim】 Sclomina erinacea is a common natural enemy insect in forest ecological system of China, and there are obvious morphological differences among its different geographical populations. This research aims to screen microsatellite loci based on the transcriptome data of S. erinacea, so as to develop reliable microsatellite markers for the further study of the genetic diversity and genetic differentiation of S. erinacea populations. 【Methods】 The SSR markers were searched by MISA software among 42 215 unigenes of the transcriptome data previously obtained by high-throughput sequencing platform Illumina HiSeq^TM 2000. SSR primers were designed by using Primer Premier 3 software. Fifty-four SSR primers randomly selected were tested in nine geographical populations of S. erinacea from China by PCR. 【Results】 A total of 2 395 SSR loci were found in 2 107 unigenes by MISA software. The main repeat types were trinucleotide repeats (44.43%), followed by dinucleotide repeats (40.08%) and tetranucleotide repeats (12.94%). More than 2 000 pairs of SSR primers were successfully designed by using Primer Premier 3 software. The PCR results of SSR loci of nine different geographical populations of S. erinacea with 54 pairs of primers randomly selected showed that 16 pairs of SSR primers could successfully amplify target fragments. 【Conclusion】 The results show that it is feasible to exploit microsatellite markers from the transcriptome data of S. erinacea. This study lays a foundation for the further study of population genetics of S. erinacea.

Key words: Sclomina erinacea, transcriptome, microsatellite, primer design, high-throughput sequencing