ISOLATION OF MICROSATELLITE DNA MARKERS FROM A PASSERINE BIRD, DENDROICA-PETECHIA (THE YELLOW WARBLER), AND THEIR USE IN POPULATION STUDIES

We describe the isolation and genetic characterization of five microsa tellite loci in a passerine bird, the yellow warbler Dendroica petechi a, and assess their use for various types of population-level analysis using data from two breeding populations. All five loci show levels o f variability comparable to those observed in other vertebrates (H-exp = 0.388-0.989). One locus, Dp mu O5, is highly variable with 46 allel es detected in 41 individuals. All loci appeared to segregate in a Men delian fashion as judged by patterns of inheritance in known families. However, one locus showed a significant heterozygote deficiency in on e population suggesting the possible presence of null alleles at this locus. These markers provide a highly accurate system for determinatio n of parentage in this species: the probability of detecting extrapair fertilization by males given known maternity was 0.999 in each of two separate populations. Comparison of allele frequencies and genetic di stances between the two populations showed no evidence for significant differences in allele frequencies at individual loci, whereas the ove rall genetic distance and F-ST-value are significantly different from zero suggesting weak differentiation. Finally, cross-species amplifica tion experiments showed that at least one locus appears to amplify pro ducts in a wide range of birds including nonpasserine species. Thus, o ur results demonstrate that these loci will provide a useful set of ge netic information for addressing a wide range of population-level anal yses in this and other bird species.