Abstract
Abstract We isolated seven novel polymorphic microsatellite DNA loci from the burrowing parrot (Cyanoliseus patagonus) and optimised them for future studies of population differentiation and genetic variation. The loci were screened for polymorphism using 38 samples from wild individuals from three neighbouring colonies in Argentina. The primers amplified highly variable loci characterised by 3–10 alleles per locus and their observed and expected heterozygosities ranged from 0.15 to 0.78 and 0.15 to 0.81, respectively. When we analysed 52 samples across Argentina and Chile, we found strong genetic differentiation between the Chilean and the Argentinean subspecies as well as significant differentiation between two geographically separated subspecies within Argentina. Our results indicate the suitability of these microsatellites for investigating further questions regarding the population genetics in this species.
Highlights
Burrowing Parrots Cyanoliseus patagonus are colonial Psittaciformes
Three subspecies are proposed for Argentina (Darrieu 1980; Nores and Yzurieta 1983; Bucher and Rinaldi 1986): C. p. andinus, C. p. conlara and C. p. patagonus, and one in central Chile C. p. bloxami (Olson 1995)
Visualisation of genetic differences between individuals was assessed by factorial component analyses (FCA) calculated with GENETIX (Belkhir et al 2001), which projects individuals into a two-dimensional space according to their allele frequencies for all loci
Summary
Burrowing Parrots Cyanoliseus patagonus are colonial Psittaciformes. In Argentina, they mainly inhabit the phytogeographical province of ‘‘Monte’’, a semi-desert scrubland characterised by bushy steppes and xerophyte forests (see Lopez et al 2006). The abundance of Burrowing Parrots is highly variable (Bucher and Rinaldi 1986). In some parts of its range in Argentina, this species is common or abundant ( the subspecies patagonus; see Masello et al 2006), but elsewhere it is rare or occasional (Bucher and Rinaldi 1986). This species has suffered a clear retraction since the early nineteenth century (Bucher and Rinaldi 1986). The situation is worrying in Chile, where Burrowing Parrots have undergone a dramatic decline and are listed as ‘‘threatened’’ species in the vertebrate Red List of Chile (Glade 1993, see Galaz Leigh 2005). Microsatellite markers will allow us to investigate the genetic structures of different populations and identify distinct management units, as well as to study the ecology and behaviour of the species in more detail
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