Ten microsatellite loci from Northern Bobwhite (Colinus virginianus)

Abstract Ecological studies using microsatellite data often require the selection of an optimal marker set for use in parentage and relatedness inference. Commonly, this requires a candidate pool of microsatellite markers from which several are selected to ensure data are acquired efficiently and accurately. We developed 10 microsatellite loci for use with Northern Bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) and tested these loci using individuals collected from two distinct populations in GA and VA. Our new markers yielded seven alleles/locus (range: 2–16) in the Georgia population and six alleles/locus (range: 2–13) in the Vir-ginia population. Exclusionary power of all markers in each population with both parents unknown was [0.98. These microsatellite loci should be combined with previ-ously developed markers to select an optimal set for use in subsequent analyses of parentage and relatedness