Development of a multiplex panel ...

Here, we describe the development of seven new microsatellite loci from Petaurus breviceps. Together with eight loci from previous studies of gliders, we tested their utility for amplification, multiplexing and polymorphism in two glider species P. breviceps and P. norfolcensis. Of the 15 loci
tested, all were polymorphic in P. breviceps and 12 were polymorphic in P. norfolcensis. Overall, 260 sugar gliders from 13 sites in south-eastern South Australia and 106 squirrel gliders collected throughout south-east Queensland were used in analyses. Numbers of alleles per locus ranged from
four to 27 in P. breviceps and from two to 44 in P. norfolcensis. Observed heterozygosity ranged between 0.438 and 0.904 in P. breviceps and between 0.189 to 0.981 in P. norfolcensis. Within the populations analysed, one of the 15 loci for P. breviceps and two of the 12 loci for P. norfolcensis
deviated from Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium. The microsatellite loci will provide valuable tools for further study of social organization, mating systems and population biology of these gliding marsupials