Vol.:(0123456789) 1 3 Conservation Genet Resour DOI 10.1007/s12686-017-0728-y TECHNICAL NOTE Single nucleotide polymorphism markers for analysis of historical and contemporary samples of Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus) Magnus W. Jacobsen 1  · Camilla Christensen 1  · Rikke Madsen 1  · Rasmus Nygaard 2  · Bjarni Jónsson 3  · Kim Præbel 4  · Michael M. Hansen 1   Received: 9 March 2017 / Accepted: 10 March 2017 © Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2017 et al. 2012), and it is predicted that Arctic regions will experience the most drastic temperature increases (Hinz- man et al. 2005). Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus) is a sal- monid fsh that is distributed across cold regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The species is considered signif- cantly vulnerable to the efects of climate change, and it has been estimated that by 2100 it may have lost >70% of its range in Sweden (Hein et al. 2012). In Arctic regions like Greenland and Canada the species is an important target for local fsheries and is often the top predator in lakes and riv- ers. Due to its ecological and economic importance, moni- toring eforts are warranted that can readily detect negative changes in key demographic parameters. Genetic monitor- ing (Schwartz et al. 2007) fulflls these requirements, and if historical samples are available this furthermore allows for retrospective monitoring (Nielsen and Hansen 2008). Here we present a resource of SNPs (Single nucleotide polymorphisms), identifed using ddRAD (double digest Restriction site Associated DNA) sequencing, and adapted for the Fluidigm Biomark platform (Fluidigm Corporation, San Francisco, CA, USA). We validate the markers by ana- lyzing contemporary and historical samples of anadromous and landlocked populations from Greenland, Iceland and Norway. Materials and methods ddRAD sequencing ddRAD sequencing (Peterson et al. 2012) using the restric- tion enzymes SbfI and MspI was conducted for fve popula- tions from the Nuuk Fjord region, Greenland (Fig. 1) and for six family crosses involving parent fsh from one of the populations, Kobbeford. Ilumina HiSeq2000 sequencing Abstract Arctic regions are predicted to experience dras- tic temperature increases in the future, which may impact species negatively by changing their environments and habitats. One such species is the Arctic Char (Salvelinus alpinus), which is an important target for local fsheries and the top predator in many freshwater systems. Here we pre- sent 53 SNPs for population genetic inferences in the spe- cies. They are tested in contemporary and historical sam- ples and will provide a useful resource for future studies of genetic structure and for genetic monitoring of Arctic char populations. Keywords SNPs · ddRAD sequencing · Arctic char · Salvelinus alpinus · Genetic monitoring · Historical samples Introduction Anthropogenic climate change is considered one of the most severe challenges to wild plants and animals (Bellard Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s12686-017-0728-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * Magnus W. Jacobsen magnus.jacobsen@bios.au.dk 1 Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Ny Munkegade 114, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark 2 Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, Kivioq 2, P.O. Box 570, 3900 Nuuk, Greenland 3 Northwest Iceland Nature Research Centre, Adalgata 2, 550 Saudárkrókur, Iceland 4 UiT The Arctic University of Norway, 9037 Tromsø, Norway