A Study of Genetic Diversity of Common Buzzard (Buteo buteo) from Iran Using Microsatellite Markers

The common buzzard (Buteo buteo) is a bird of prey with Eurasia distribution. Buteo buteo from Iran, has an important role in the ecological cycle of the north and the northwest parts of Iran, now is suffering from illegal hunting. Blood samples from 50 Buteo buteo birds from rehabilitation center of Pardisan Park, Tehran, Iran were taken to evaluate and study the genetic diversity of these birds using 10 microsatellite markers. The population was a random population involved birds from different habitats of Buteo buteo from Iran. The results of this study showed that the population had a high genetic diversity and the highest and lowest heterozygosity was observed at Bbu30 and Bbu33 markers (0.860 and 0.514), respectively. Expected heterozigosity (He) was ranged from 0.638 in Bbu22 to 0.832 in Bbu30. The lowest number of alleles (Na) and effective number of alleles (Ne) were observed at Bbu22 and Bbu30, respectively. The Bbu17 had the highest and Bbu22 had the lowest F-statistics value (0.313 and 0.104). This population did not show significant deviation from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. Results indicated that the Buteo buteo from Iran population from rehabilitation center of Pardisan Park harbors, showed adequate amount of genetic variation and the microsatellite information effectively evaluate the genetic diversity of this species needed for conservation genetic management.