title: Sequenced RAPD markers to detect hybridization in the barbary partridge (Alectoris barbara, Phasianidae).
abstract: In the Alectoris partridges (Phasianidae), hybridization occurs occasionally as a result of the natural breakdown of isolating mechanisms but more frequently as a result of human activity. No genetic record of hybridization is known for the barbary partridge (A. barbara). This species is distributed mostly in North Africa and, in Europe, on the island of Sardinia (Italy) and on Gibraltar. The risk of hybridization between barbary and red-legged partridge (A. rufa: Iberian Peninsula, France, Italy) is high in Sardinia and in Spain. We developed two random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers to detect A. barbara × A. rufa hybrid partridges. We tested them on 125 experimental hybrids, sequenced the relative species-specific bands and found that the bands and their corresponding sequences were reliably transmitted through a number of generations (F1, F2, F3, BC1, BC2). Our markers represent a highly valuable tool for the preservation of the A. barbara genome from the pressing threat of A. rufa pollution.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Biologia, Unità di Protistologia-Zoologia, Via A. Volta 4/6, I-56126 Pisa, Italia. fbarbanera@biologia.unipi.it
authors.forename: Filippo
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Barbanera
authors.forename: Monica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Guerrini
authors.forename: Franco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bertoncini
authors.forename: Fabio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Cappelli
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Muzzeddu
authors.forename: Fernando
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Dini
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017931:DNA Primers / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D046094:Galliformes / Q000235:genetics*; D005819:Genetic Markers; D006824:Hybridization, Genetic; D008297:Male; D019105:Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA Technique / Q000379:methods*; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D005819:Genetic Markers