A set of human tri- and tetra-nucleotide microsatellite loci useful for population analyses in gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) and orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus)

摘要

Microsatellites are widely distributed through eukaryotic genomes (Tautz and Renz 1984). It is estimated that there is one microsatellite locus every 6Kb (Beckman and Weber 1992). The large number of microsatellite loci, together with their high variability, make them potentially important tools for a wide variety of studies requiring Mendelian markers (Bruford et al. 1996). Thousands of microsatellite loci have been identified in humans, and primers developed for humans can also be used effectively in nonhuman primates, thus avoiding the time-consuming and costly process of screening for species-specific microsatellite loci (Coote and Bruford 1996).