Cross–species hybridization of a single–locus minisatellite probe in passerine birds

We report here the isolation in the house sparrow Passer domesticus of a highly variable minisatellite locus. When used as a probe at high stringency, this minisatellite crosshybridizes to a specific and variable locus in many different species in the family Passeridae. Moreover, it also detects a variable locus in species belonging to several other families of passerines which suggests that this probe will be useful in at least one–third, and perhaps about one–half, of all bird species.