Isolation and characterization of microsatellite markers for paternity assessment in the golden whistler (Pachycephala pectoralis: Aves)

Abstract

We isolated and characterized six novel microsatellite markers for paternity analysis in the golden whistler Pachycephala pectoralis, by screening an enriched genomic library using nonradioactive PCR techniques. The six loci exhibited little or no evidence of null alleles and showed high levels of polymorphism (mean HE = 0.85, mean number of alleles = 15.2), making them suitable for paternity assessment in this species (exclusion probability of six unlinked loci = 0.9997). © 2005 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.