Maximising the power of discrimination is important in microsatellite-based paternity analysis in songbirds

Abstract

Even though a considerable number of genetic markers are available for paternity analysis in birds, significant difficulties can arise in the assessment and interpretation of data. Paternity analyses using genetic markers are based on comparing similarities and dissimilarities (mismatches) between candidate fathers and their putative offspring. Complications arise when only a few mismatches are being detected, because any non-shared allele might well be caused by a mutation rather than being indicative of a true exclusion. To deal with such problems, it is essential to apply marker panels with sufficient discriminative power. Studying urban populations of Parus major, we report new combinations of microsatellite markers with extremely high sensitivity. We show that even marker panels with numerically satisfying discrimination power and exclusion probability ([0.99999999 and [0.999, respectively) do not always protect from insecurities. We also show that further maximisation of panel sensitivity by adding more markers can be helpful to resolve the majority of such ambiguous cases. ZusammenfassungMaximierung der Diskriminationsstärke ist wichtig fü r Untersuchungen von Mikrosatelliten-basierten Vaterschaftsanalysen bei Singvögeln Auch wenn eine Vielzahl von genetischen Markern für Vaterschaftsanalysen bei Singvögeln zur Verfügung steht, so können sich doch erhebliche Schwierigkeiten bei der Beurteilung und Interpretation der Daten ergeben. Vaterschaftsanalysen mittels genetischer Marker basieren auf dem Vergleich von Ä hnlichkeiten bzw. Unähnlichkeiten (sog. mismatches) zwischen vermuteten Vätern und ihren vermeintlichen Nachkommen. Komplikationen treten auf, wenn nur wenige Unähnlichkeiten bestehen, weil jedes nicht gemeinsame Allel ebenso durch eine Mutation bestimmt sein kann und nicht zwingend für einen echten Ausschluss sprechen muss. Um mit diesem Problem umzugehen, ist es unverzichtbar, Markerkombinationen mit genügend Diskriminationsstärke anzuwenden. Für eine Stadtpopulation von Kohlmeisen Parus major berichten wir über neue Kombinationen von Mikrosatellitenmarkern mit sehr hoher Sensitivität. Wir können zeigen, dass auch Markerkombinationen mit zahlenmäßig zufrieden stellender Diskriminationsstärke und Ausschlusswahrscheinlichkeit ([0.99999999 bzw. [0.999) nicht immer vor Unsicherheiten bewahren. Wir zeigen auch, dass eine weitere Maximierung der Sensitivität durch Hinzunahme Communicated by M. Wink. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (

Tracking the geographical origin of timber by DNA fingerprinting: a study of the endangered species Cinnamomum kanehirae in Taiwan

“…The numbers of distinguishable genotypes gradually increased with the number of microsatellite loci combinations evaluated. Maximizing identification sensitivity by consulting the data of more microsatellite loci increases the resolution of individual discrimination (Tessier et al 1999;Galli et al 2005;Poetsch et al 2012). Nevertheless, based on the combinations of nine microsatellite loci, only two individuals could not be distinguished from the others (Figure 4b).…”

Characterization and Development of EST-SSR Markers Derived from Transcriptome of Yellow Catfish

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