Development of microsatellite markers for a diving duck, the common pochard (Aythya ferina)

Ten polymorphic microsatellites for the common pochard were isolated from microsatellite enriched libraries. Seven microsatellites were obtained based on cross-species amplification. These 17 microsatellites exhibited polymorphism within a population sample, with numbers of alleles per locus ranging from 2 to 17 and expected heterozygosities from 0.053 to 0.916. These markers will be helpful for studying reproductive strategies in the pochard, as well as in addressing population genetic questions. Four of the microsatellite loci showed significant departures from Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium and/or high estimates of null allele frequencies in our study population. Hence, they should be used with caution.