Development of 13 microsatellites for Gunnison Sage-grouse (Centrocercus minimus) using next-generation shotgun sequencing and their utility in Greater Sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus)

Abstract

Gunnison Sage-grouse are an obligate sagebrush species that has experienced significant population declines and has been proposed for listing under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. In order to examine levels of connectivity among Gunnison Sage-grouse leks, we identified 13 novel microsatellite loci though next-generation shotgun sequencing, and tested them on the closely related Greater Sage-grouse. The number of alleles per locus ranged from 2 to 12. No loci were found to be linked, although 2 loci revealed significant departures from Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium or evidence of null alleles. While these microsatellites were designed for Gunnison Sage-grouse, they also work well for Greater Sage-grouse and could be used for numerous genetic questions including landscape and population genetics.