Short Notes AFLPs: genetic markers for paternity studies in newts (Triturus vulgaris)

DNA-based genetic markers can reveal paternity whenever the direct assignment of fathers to offspring is precluded by multiple matings and internal fertilisation (e.g. Hughes, 1998). Microsatellites are the current marker of choice in many behavioural studies, and have revealed important insights into genetic mating systems of European amphibians (e.g., Garner & Schmidt, 2003). However, the number of amphibian species for which the time-consuming designing of locus-specific microsatellite primers was successful is still limited (for a review see Jehle & Arntzen, 2002), and the crossutilisation of existing markers to closely related taxa seems to have a particularly low success rate (as shown in ranid frogs: Primmer & Merilä, 2002). Allozymes can infer parentage without a species-specific protocol, but, due to their low degree of polymorphism, in mate choice experiments require the a priori screening of individuals (as conducted in Rafinski & Osikowsi, 2002). Dominant markers such as RAPDs successfully identified closely-related amphibian species and their hybrids (Zeisset & Beebee, 1998; Mikulicek & Pialek, 2003), but might be less suited to distinguish between closely re-