Isolation and characterization of microsatellites in the kakerori (Pomarea dimidiata) using feathers as source of DNA

The kakerori (Pomarea dimidiata) is an endangered forest bird in the Cook Islands, South Pacific. We have developed 10 microsatellite markers using kakerori feathers as the DNA source. Seven of these loci were found to be polymorphic in 42 individuals examined. The number of alleles per locus in the polymorphic loci varied from 3 to 5. Observed and expected heterozygosity ranges were 0.57-0.74 and 0.50-0.74, respectively. All loci isolated conformed to Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium expectations. We believe these loci will be useful in studying kakerori conservation genetics, and our success in developing microsatellite markers from feather samples will encourage the use of less invasive sample sources in microsatellite isolation studies.