title: New methods to identify conserved microsatellite loci and develop primer sets of high cross-species utility - as demonstrated for birds.
abstract: We have developed a new approach to create microsatellite primer sets that have high utility across a wide range of species. The success of this method was demonstrated using birds. We selected 35 avian EST microsatellite loci that had a high degree of sequence homology between the zebra finch Taeniopygia guttata and the chicken Gallus gallus and designed primer sets in which the primer bind sites were identical in both species. For 33 conserved primer sets, on average, 100% of loci amplified in each of 17 passerine species and 99% of loci in five non-passerine species. The genotyping of four individuals per species revealed that 24-76% (mean 48%) of loci were polymorphic in the passerines and 18-26% (mean 21%) in the non-passerines. When at least 17 individuals were genotyped per species for four Fringillidae finch species, 71-85% of loci were polymorphic, observed heterozygosity was above 0.50 for most loci and no locus deviated significantly from Hardy-Weinberg proportions. This new set of microsatellite markers is of higher cross-species utility than any set previously designed. The loci described are suitable for a range of applications that require polymorphic avian markers, including paternity and population studies. They will facilitate comparisons of bird genome organization, including genome mapping and studies of recombination, and allow comparisons of genetic variability between species whilst avoiding ascertainment bias. The costs and time to develop new loci can now be avoided for many applications in numerous species. Furthermore, our method can be readily used to develop microsatellite markers of high utility across other taxa.
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S10 2TN, UK Department of Animal Ecology, Ecology Building, Lund University SE-223 62 Lund, Sweden Institute of Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences, King's Building, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH9 3JT, Scotland, UK.
authors.forename: Deborah A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Dawson
authors.forename: Gavin J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Horsburgh
authors.forename: Clemens
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Küpper
authors.forename: Ian R K
authors.initials: IR
authors.lastname: Stewart
authors.forename: Alexander D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Ball
authors.forename: Kate L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Durrant
authors.forename: Bengt
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hansson
authors.forename: Ida
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Bacon
authors.forename: Susannah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bird
authors.forename: Akos
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Klein
authors.forename: Andrew P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Krupa
authors.forename: Jin-Won
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Martín-Gálvez
authors.forename: Michelle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Simeoni
authors.forename: Gemma
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Lewis G
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: Spurgin
authors.forename: Terry
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Burke