A panel of polymorphic microsatellite markers in Himalayan monal Lophophorus impejanus developed by cross-species amplification and their applicability in other Galliformes

Isolation and development of new microsatellite markers for any species is still labour-intensive and requires substantial inputs of time, money and expertise. Therefore, cross-species microsatellite amplification can be an effective way in obtaining microsatellite loci for closely related taxa in bird species. We have reported microsatellite loci for Himalayan monal for the first time. Fifteen microsatellite markers developed for chicken were cross-amplified in Himalayan monal. All the tested 15 microsatellite markers were polymorphic, with mean (± s.e.) allelic number of 4 ± 1.51, ranging 2–7 per locus. The observed heterozygosity in the population ranged between 0.285 and 0.714, with mean (± s.e.) of 0.499 ± 0.125, indicating considerable genetic variation in this population. While 12 loci conformed to Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium (P > 0.05), 3 loci, i.e. MCW0295, MCW0081, MCW0330 deviated from it (P < 0.05). No evidence for linkage disequilibrium was observed among pair of loci. Our study show that these 15 microsatellites loci could be employed in population genetic studies for Himalayan monal and their applicability in Jungle Bush Quail, Grey francolin and Kalij pheasant.