Microsatellite Variation in Red-Winged Blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus)

Authors

C. Lenney Williams, USDA, Wildlife Services, National Wildlife Research Center
H.J. Homan, USDA, Wildlife Services, National Wildlife Research CenterFollow
J.J. Johnston, USDA, Wildlife Services, National Wildlife Research CenterFollow
G. M. Linz, USDA/APHIS/WS National Wildlife Research CenterFollow

Date of this Version

February 2004

Comments

Published in Biochemical Genetics, Vol. 42, Nos. 1/2, February 2004.

Abstract

Territorial male red-winged blackbirds from five locations in the United States and Canada were genotyped using a suite of six microsatellite loci. Each population possessed unique alleles, but numbers of alleles per locus (range = 7.3–8.8) and expected multilocus heterozygosities (range = 0.76–0.80) were similar in all populations. Significant overall allele frequency differences were detected between some population pairs, and some pairwise F_st values were significant (but small). However, F_st among populations, although significant, was also small (0.009). Despite revealing low levels of population structure, the high multilocus polymorphism indicates these loci will be valuable in the genetic analysis of behavior and reproductive strategies in this species.