Isolation and characterization of 17 microsatellite loci for the house finch (Carpodacus mexicanus).

The house finch (Carpodacus mexicanus) has emerged recently as a model species in studies of sexual selection, reproductive physiology, population genetics, and epizootic disease ecology. Here we describe 17 highly polymorphic microsatellite loci for this species. In a sample of 36 individuals, we observed an average of 16 alleles per locus and heterozygosity ranged from 0.61 to 0.97. One locus showed significant deviation from Hardy-Weinberg proportions, but no significant gametic disequilibrium was observed among any of the loci. Amplification by polymerase chain reaction was optimized under similar parameters across loci, thereby facilitating multiplexing and rapid multilocus genotyping.