Twenty-three polymorphic microsatellite markers for the Caribbean endemic Zenaida dove, Zenaida aurita, and its conservation in related Zenaida species

Twenty-three polymorphic microsatellite loci, six dinucleotidic loci and 17 tetranucleotidic loci, were developed for the Zenaida dove (Zenaida aurita), a bird species endemic to the Caribbean Islands. From a set of 30 individuals captured at one single location in Barbados, we obtained 20 loci that did not deviate from Hardy–Weinberg Equilibrium. Number of alleles per locus ranged between 2 and 11 (average 7.05) and the expected heterozygosity per locus, He ranged between 0.321 and 0.881 (average 0.712). This gives an exclusionary power for parental analysis of 0.9999 and 1.0000, knowing the genotype of one social parent, or both, respectively. Such results indicate that these 20 loci will be useful for both studying population genetics and mate choice patterns in Z. aurita. All 20 loci amplified in four other Zenaida species, the Galápagos dove, Z. galapagoensis, the eared dove, Z. auriculata, the mourning dove, Z. macroura, the Pacific dove, Z. meloda, with 30–96% being polymorphic.