Characterization of polymorphic microsatellite loci for the Tawny Pipit Anthus campestris and their utility in other steppe birds

New microsatellite loci for Tawny Pipit Anthus campestris were isolated from a genomic library. We were able to unambiguously score six loci: two were dinucleotide, one trinucleotide, two tetranucleotide and one pentanucleotide that turned out to be sex-linked. Four out of six loci were polymorphic with 7-23 alleles in our population and an observed heterozygosity ranging between 0.286 and 0.936. Cross-utility of these markers was tested in other 17 steppe-bird species of six families. In addition, 16 microsatellite loci developed for other species were tested for cross-species amplification in A. campestris. Eight microsatellite markers were successfully amplified; seven of them were polymorphic with 2-43 alleles and an observed heterozygosity of 0.040-0.863. Overall, 14 functional locus markers have been characterized for A. campestris that could be useful for future studies of paternity, genetic variability and population structure.This study was funded by JCCM projects PAC06-0137 and PII1C09-0128-4724. M.C. was supported by a predoctoral grant (I3P) from the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC).Peer Reviewe