Abstract
Molecular analyses of genetic parentage in wild bird populations demonstrate that extra-pair paternity (EPP) is common, even in socially monogamous species. After having identified extra-pair offspring (EPO), an important step is to uncover the identity of extra-pair sires (EPS). Studies relying on multilocus DNA fingerprinting face the problem that simple between-gel comparisons of fingerprint banding patterns are imprecise in assigning parentage across gels. To tackle this problem, we developed a method to identify EPS by means of standardized across-gel comparisons of multilocus DNA fingerprints and applied it in a socially monogamous bird species with high levels of EPP, the coal tit (Parus ater). Scanned DNA fingerprint gels and standard image-editing software allowed to screen and reliably identify EPS. Overall, EPP was successfully assigned to 32 different EPS for 143 out of 210 (68.1%) EPO detected. This corresponds well to extra-pair parentage assignment rates revealed by microsatellite-based studies in congeneric species. Our approach proves especially useful whenever multilocus DNA fingerprints for parentage exclusion exist while microsatellite markers are not available.
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