DNA sampling from eggshells and microsatellite genotyping in rare tropical birds: Case study on Brazilian Merganser

Abstract This study shows that sampling maternal DNA from hatched and abandoned eggshells is a viable noninvasive strategy for studying the genetics of rare or endangered tropical birds, as exemplified here by the Brazilian Merganser (Mergus octosetaceus). Eighteen microsatellites were isolated from enriched libraries and nine heterologous loci from related species were tested. Seven loci were amplified successfully, with five of them being polymorphic. These loci exhibited amplicons ranging from 110 to 254 bp for 132 samples, with 60 from eggshells and 72 from blood or muscle samples. The num...