1. ¹Galton Laboratory, Department of Biology, University College London, London, UK
2. ²Department of Conservation Science, Chicago Zoological Society, Brookfield, IL, USA
3. ³Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

Correspondence: Dr KK Dasmahapatra, Galton Laboratory, Department of Biology, University College London, 4 Stephenson Way, London NW1 2HE, UK. E-mail: k.dasmahapatra@ucl.ac.uk

Received 26 January 2007; Revised 3 October 2007; Accepted 10 October 2007; Published online 7 November 2007.

Abstract

In the absence of detailed pedigree records, researchers have attempted to estimate individuals' levels of inbreeding using molecular markers, generally making use of heterozygosity measures based on microsatellite markers. Here we report and validate a method for estimating an individual's inbreeding coefficient, f, using amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers. We use simulations to confirm that our measure scales appropriately with f when allele frequencies can be estimated from a subset of outbred individuals. We also present an approach for obtaining satisfactory estimates even in the absence of an independent set of known outbred individuals from which to estimate allele frequencies. We then test our method against empirical data from 179 wild and captive-bred old-field mice, Peromyscus polionotus subgriseus, comprising pedigree-based estimates of f, along with genetic data from 94 AFLP markers and 12 microsatellites. Inbreeding estimates based on both AFLP and microsatellite markers were found to correlate strongly with pedigree-based inbreeding coefficients. Owing to their ease of amplification in any species, AFLP markers may prove to be a valuable new tool for estimating f in natural populations and for examining correlations between heterozygosity and fitness.