Isolation and characterization of polymorphic microsatellite markers for the brown-headed nuthatch (Sitta pusilla)

摘要

Populations of brown-headed nuthatches (Sitta pusilla) are declining throughout the species range. Here we characterize twelve polymorphic microsatellite loci for this species. Analysis of 32 presumably unrelated individuals from a single population revealed an average of 14.9 alleles per locus (range 4–25), an average observed heterozygosity of 0.74 (range 0.52–0.94) and an average polymorphic information content of 0.80 (range 0.57–0.95). We anticipate that these microsatellite markers will be useful for population genetic and behavioral studies on the brown-headed nuthatch and closely related species.