Fourteen polymorphic microsatellite loci characterized in the house sparrow Passer domesticus (Passeridae,Aves)

We characterized 14 polymorphic microsatellite loci in the house sparrow Passer domesticus. Four loci were isolated from house sparrow genomic libraries and 10 loci were identified by testing 100 loci that had been originally isolated in other passerine species. Loci were characterized in 37–54 unrelated sparrows from British and Norwegian populations. Each locus displayed between two and 31 alleles, with the observed heterozygosity ranging between 0.30 and 0.91.     

Contrasting levels of extra-pair paternity in mainland and island populations of the house sparrow (Passer domesticus): is there an 'island effect'?

Despite the many studies that have investigated the genetic mating system of socially monogamous birds, very little is known about the underlying causes of extra-pair paternity and few studies have attempted to test those hypotheses which have been suggested. This study describes die analysis of die genetic mating system of two populations of the house sparrow [Passer domesticus) , and uses the results from four other populations to test existing hypodieses using an intra-specific comparative approach. The parentage analysis was conducted using a combination of published and newly presented microsatellite loci isolated from the house sparrow. One population in Kentucky, U.S.A. was found to contain what may be considered to be a typical level of extra-pair paternity for mis species (10.5%, 19/185 offspring). The second, a population on the island of Lundy, UK, exhibited a very low level (1.3%, 4/305 offspring), significandy lower dian that in all the other populations studied so far. The finding of such diverse rates of extra-pair paternity, along with the existing estimates from ofher populations, has allowed us to test the effects of breeding density and genetic variation on die level of extra-pair paternity. We found no effect of either factor on the frequency of extra-pair paternity in the house sparrow, leaving the cause of this variation open to fresh ideas.