ABSTRACT
We tested the use of amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) to assess the frequency of extra-pair parentage in a bluethroat (Luscinia svecica namnetum) population. Thirty-six families totalling 162 nestlings were analysed. Using a combination of three primer pairs, we reached an exclusion probability of 93% for the population. This probability can reach 99% considering families independently. We revealed that extra-pair fertilizations are very common: 63.8% of all broods contain at least one extra-pair young, totalling 41.9% of all young analysed. However, with the technique and the three primer pairs used it was not possible to attribute the parentage exclusions to extra-pair paternity, maternity or both. As brood parasitism has never been reported in this species, it seems likely that the exclusions are due to extra-pair males. This study shows that dominant AFLP markers can be useful for studying the mating system of taxa for which no microsatellite primers are available. This technique allows the approximate estimation of parentage exclusions despite the fact that it is not possible to know which parent has to be excluded.
Subject(s)
Biomarkers , Polymorphism, Genetic/genetics , Songbirds/genetics , Animals , DNA/chemistry , DNA Primers/chemistry , Deoxyribonuclease EcoRI/chemistry , Deoxyribonucleases, Type II Site-Specific/chemistry , Female , Male , Paternity , Polymerase Chain Reaction/veterinary , Sequence Analysis, DNAABSTRACT
We assessed the mitochondrial DNA sequence divergence of a 718 bp fragment of the control region and 1007 bp of the cytochrome b gene between two allopatric morphologically different subspecies of bluethroat (Luscinia svecica). None of the 17 total haplotypes was shared between L. s. namnetum and L. s. svecica. However, the mean distances between subspecies were very low for both fragments (0.00168 +/- 0.00001 (mean +/- SE) for the control region; 0.00306 +/- 0.00016 for the cytochrome b gene). Only one substitution made the two subspecies genetically differentiated, highlighting their recent divergence. Interestingly, the control region was not more variable than the cytochrome b gene.
