title: Development and characterization of microsatellite loci for common raven (Corvus corax) and cross species amplification in other Corvidae.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  A priority for conservation is the identification of endemic populations. We developed microsatellite markers for common raven (Corvus corax), a bird species with a Holarctic distribution, to identify and assess endemic populations in Alaska.
  
  
  RESULTS
  From a total of 50 microsatellite loci, we isolated and characterized 15 loci. Eight of these loci were polymorphic and readily scoreable. Eighteen to 20 common ravens from Fairbanks, Alaska were genotyped showing the following variability: 3-8 alleles per locus, 0.25-0.80 observed heterozygosity (Ho), and 0.30-0.80 expected heterozygosity (He). All loci were in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium and linkage equilibrium and many loci amplified and were polymorphic in related taxa.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These loci will be used to identify endemic populations of common raven and assess their genetic diversity and connectivity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Florida Institute of Technology, Melbourne, FL, 32901, USA. cpruett@fit.edu.
authors.forename: Christin L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Pruett
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Florida Institute of Technology, Melbourne, FL, 32901, USA. lepingw@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Leping
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wan
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Florida Institute of Technology, Melbourne, FL, 32901, USA. tli2012@my.fit.edu.
authors.forename: Tianyu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Florida Institute of Technology, Melbourne, FL, 32901, USA. cspern2013@my.fit.edu.
authors.forename: Cory
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Spern
authors.affiliation: Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, University of Georgia, Aiken, SC, 29802, USA. lance@sre.uga.edu.
authors.forename: Stacey L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Lance
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Health Science, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, 30602, USA. travis.glenn@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Travis
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Glenn
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, 70803, USA. brant@faircloth-lab.org.
authors.forename: Brant
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Faircloth
authors.affiliation: University of Alaska Museum, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK, 99775, USA. kevin.winker@alaska.edu.
authors.forename: Kevin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Winker
mesh_terms: D000413:Alaska; D000483:Alleles; D000818:Animals; D046368:Crows / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D005787:Gene Frequency; D056426:Genetic Loci / Q000235:genetics*; D005838:Genotype; D005843:Geography; D015810:Linkage Disequilibrium; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats / Q000235:genetics*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D020308:Songbirds / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D013045:Species Specificity