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At least 163 records · Page 9Linked to original sources
PubMed1997

Low frequency of microsatellites in the avian genome.

A better insight into the occurrence of microsatellites in a range of taxa may help to understand the evolution of simple repeats. Previous studies have found the relative abundance of several repeat motifs to differ among mammals, invertebrates, and plants. Absolute numbers of microsatellites also tend to correlate positively with genome size. We analyzed the occurrence, frequency, and distribution of microsatellites in birds, a taxon with one of the smallest known genome sizes among vertebrates. Dot-blot hybridization revealed that about half of 22 different di-, tri-, and tetranucleotide repeat motifs were clearly more common in human than in three species of birds: chicken, woodpecker, and swallow. For the remaining motifs no clear difference was found. From searching avian database sequences we estimated there to be 30,000-70,000 microsatellites longer than 20 bp in the avian genome. The number of (CA) > or = 10 would be around 7000-9000 and the number of (CA) > or = 14 about 3000. The calculated density of avian microsatellites (total, one every 20-39 kb; (CA) > or = 10, one every 136-150 kb) is much lower than that estimated for the human genome (one every 6 and 30 kb, respectively). This may be explained by the fact that the avian genome contains relatively less noncoding DNA than most mammals and that avian SINE/LINE elements do not terminate in poly(A) tails, which are known to provide a resource for the evolution of simple repeats in mammals. We found no association between microsatellites and SINEs in birds. Primed in situ labeling suggested fairly even distribution of (CA)n repeats over chicken macrochromosomes and intermediate chromosomes, whereas the microchromosomes, a large part of the Z and W chromosomes, and most telomeres and centromeres had very low concentrations of (CA)n microsatellites. The scarcity of microsatellites on the microchromosomes is compatible to these regions likely being unusually rich in coding sequences. The low microsatellite density in the genome in general and on the microchromosomes in particular imposes an obstacle for the development of marker-rich genetic maps of chicken and other birds, and for the localization of quantitative trait genes.

Animals↗
PubMed2005

Characterization and comparison of microsatellites derived from repeat-enriched libraries and expressed sequence tags.

The construction of high-density linkage maps for use in identifying loci underlying important traits requires the development of large numbers of polymorphic genetic markers spanning the entire genome at regularly spaced intervals. As part of our efforts to develop markers for rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), we performed a comparison of allelic variation between microsatellite markers developed from expressed sequence tag (EST) data and anonymous markers identified from repeat-enriched libraries constructed from genomic DNA. A subset of 70 markers (37 from EST databases and 33 from repeat enriched libraries) was characterized with respect to polymorphism information content (PIC), number of alleles, repeat number, locus duplication within the genome and ability to amplify in other salmonid species. Higher PIC was detected in dinucleotide microsatellites derived from ESTs than anonymous markers (72.7% vs. 54.0%). In contrast, dinucleotide repeat numbers were higher for anonymous microsatellites than for EST derived microsatellites (27.4 vs.18.1). A higher rate of cross-species amplification was observed for EST microsatellites. Approximately half of each marker type was duplicated within the genome. Unlike single-copy markers, amplification of duplicated microsatellites in other salmonids was not correlated to phylogenetic distance. Genomic microsatellites proved more useful than EST derived microsatellites in discriminating among the salmonids. In total, 428 microsatellite markers were developed in this study for mapping and population genetic studies in rainbow trout.

Alleles↗
PubMed1995

Microsatellite DNA and isozyme variability in a west African population of Anopheles gambiae.

Microsatellites are defined as tracts of tandemly repeated short DNA sequences. Polymorphisms in this class of DNA are currently being used to generate a genetic map of the mosquito Anopheles gambiae. In the present study we explore the potential of microsatellites as a tool for studying the genetic structure of natural populations of this malaria vector. Genetic polymorphism at twenty enzyme coding gene loci and eleven microsatellite DNA loci was surveyed in a population of An. gambiae from Mali, West Africa. All of the microsatellite loci surveyed were polymorphic, as compared to 40% of the isozyme loci. The mean heterozygosity for the isozyme loci was only 0.097 (+/- 0.0035), but for the microsatellite loci it was 0.732 (+/- 0.060). The pattern of variability was very different between isozymes and microsatellites. Typically, at an isozyme locus a single allele occurred at a frequency > or = 0.75, whereas at microsatellite loci the most common allele had a frequency < 0.50. We conclude that microsatellites provide a rich source of genetic polymorphisms for the study of the population genetics of An. gambiae and are in many ways superior to isozymes for this purpose. We discuss the potential for utilizing genetically mapped microsatellite loci to explore the effect of chromosomal inversions on the distribution of genetic polymorphisms in An. gambiae.

Africa, Western↗
PubMed2004

High similarity between flanking regions of different microsatellites detected within each of two species of Lepidoptera: Parnassius apollo and Euphydryas aurinia.

Microsatellite flanking regions have been compared in two butterfly species. Several microsatellite flanking regions showed high similarity to one another among different microsatellites within a same species, but very few similarities were found between species. This can be the consequence of either duplication/multiplication events involving large regions containing microsatellites or of microsatellites imbedded in minisatellite regions. The multiplication of microsatellites might also be linked to mobile elements. Furthermore, crossing over between nonhomologous microsatellites can lead to the exchange of the flanking regions between microsatellites. The same phenomenon was observed in both studied butterfly species but not in Aphis fabae (Hemiptera), which was screened at the same time using the same protocol. These findings might explain, at least partially, why microsatellite isolation in Lepidoptera has been relatively unsuccessful so far.

Animals↗
PubMed2005

Analysis of polymorphic PRNP microsatellite and ORF sites in German sheep breeds.

Polymorphic microsatellite and open-reading frame (ORF) sites in the prion protein coding gene (PRNP) were analysed in eight sheep breeds. The three microsatellite sites S11, S15 and S24 were genotyped by fragment length analysis, and the ORF codons 136, 154 and 171 were analysed after direct sequencing. Unexpected polymerase chain reaction (PCR) products of microsatellite sites and ORF haplotypes with more than one heterozygous site were submitted to cloning and then sequenced. The microsatellite sites were polymorphic in all breeds with two to five alleles per site. On average of breeds and sites, the microsatellites had higher degrees of polymorphism than the ORF sites. The ARR/ARR ORF genotype occurred always together with the microsatellite genotypes S11 152/152, S15 179/179 and S24 144/144. As ORF and microsatellite alleles of the PRNP were observed in typical combinations, the microsatellite genotypes were significantly associated with scrapie incidences or risk classes based on the ORF genotypes. The microsatellite sites were highly polymorphic and therefore are advantageous markers for evaluation of scrapie disposition and fine mapping of effects on scrapie pathogenesis within the gene.

Animals↗
PubMed2002

Genetic analysis of scab resistance QTL in wheat with microsatellite and AFLP markers.

Three chromosomal regions associated with scab resistance were detected in a common cultivar, Ning7840, by microsatellite and AFLP analysis. Six microsatellites on chromosome 3BS, Xgwm389, Xgwm533, Xbarc147, Xgwm493, Xbarc102, and Xbarc131, were integrated into an amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) linkage group containing a major quantitative trait locus (QTL) for scab resistance in a mapping population of 133 recombinant inbred lines (RILs) derived from 'Ning7840' x 'Clark'. Based on single-factor analysis of variance of scab infection data from four experiments, Xgwm533 and Xbarc147 were the two microsatellite markers most tightly associated with the major scab resistance QTL. Interval analysis based on the integrated map of AFLP and microsatellite markers showed that the major QTL was located in a chromosome region about 8 cM in length around Xgwm533 and Xbarc147. Based on mapping of six microsatellite markers on eight 3BS deletion lines, the major QTL was located distal to breakage point 3BS-8. In total, 18 microsatellites were physically located on different subarm regions on 3BS. Two microsatellites, Xgwm120 and Xgwm614, were significantly associated with QTL for scab resistance on chromosome 2BL and 2AS, respectively. The resistance alleles on 3BS, 2BL, and 2AS were all derived from 'Ning7840'. Significant interaction between the major QTL on 3BS and the QTL on 2BL was detected based on microsatellite markers linked to them. Using these microsatellite markers would facilitate marker-assisted selection to improve scab resistance in wheat.

Chromosome Mapping↗
PubMed1996

Frequencies and sequence characteristics of di-, tri-, and tetra-nucleotide microsatellites in wheat.

Microsatellites have emerged as an important source of genetic markers for eukaryotic genomes. In this report, two wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) genomic libraries were screened for several di-, tri-, and tetranucleotide tandem repeats. Clones containing (AC)n, (AG)n, (TCT)n, and (TTG)n repeats were isolated and sequenced. On average, there was one (AC)n microsatellite every 292 kbp and one (AG)n microsatellite every 212 kbp. The trinucleotide tandem repeats (TCT)n and (TTG)n were about 10 times less common than the two dinucleotide tandem repeats tested and tetranucleotide tandem repeats were rare. Many of the microsatellites had more than 10 repeats. The maximum repeat number found for (AC)n was 36 and for (TCT)n was more than 50. The prevailing category of (AG)n microsatellites from (AG)n isolates was perfect repeats. About half of the (AC)n microsatellites were compound repeats, while most of the (TCT)n microsatellites were imperfect repeats. In a small sample, (TTG)n microsatellites consisted mainly of compound repeats. The most frequently associated repeats were (AC)n with (AG)n, (TCT)n with (TCC)n, and (TTG)n with (TGG)n. Among 32 pairs of microsatellite primers surveyed, seven produced polymorphic products in the expected size range and these loci were mapped using a hexaploid wheat mapping population or aneuploid stocks.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed2005

Targeted oligonucleotide-mediated microsatellite identification (TOMMI) from large-insert library clones.

BACKGROUND: In the last few years, microsatellites have become the most popular molecular marker system and have intensively been applied in genome mapping, biodiversity and phylogeny studies of livestock. Compared to single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) as another popular marker system, microsatellites reveal obvious advantages. They are multi-allelic, possibly more polymorphic and cheaper to genotype. Calculations showed that a multi-allelic marker system always has more power to detect Linkage Disequilibrium (LD) than does a di-allelic marker system. Traditional isolation methods using partial genomic libraries are time-consuming and cost-intensive. In order to directly generate microsatellites from large-insert libraries a sequencing approach with repeat-containing oligonucleotides is introduced. RESULTS: Seventeen porcine microsatellite markers were isolated from eleven PAC clones by targeted oligonucleotide-mediated microsatellite identification (TOMMI), an improved efficient and rapid flanking sequence-based approach for the isolation of STS-markers. With the application of TOMMI, an average of 1.55 (CA/GT) microsatellites per PAC clone was identified. The number of alleles, allele size distribution, polymorphism information content (PIC), average heterozygosity (HT), and effective allele number (NE) for the STS-markers were calculated using a sampling of 336 unrelated animals representing fifteen pig breeds (nine European and six Chinese breeds). Sixteen of the microsatellite markers proved to be polymorphic (2 to 22 alleles) in this heterogeneous sampling. Most of the publicly available (porcine) microsatellite amplicons range from approximately 80 bp to 200 bp. Here, we attempted to utilize as much sequence information as possible to develop STS-markers with larger amplicons. Indeed, fourteen of the seventeen STS-marker amplicons have minimal allele sizes of at least 200 bp. Thus, most of the generated STS-markers can easily be integrated into multilocus assays covering a broader separation spectrum. Linkage mapping results of the markers indicate their potential immediate use in QTL studies to further dissect trait associated chromosomal regions. CONCLUSION: The sequencing strategy described in this study provides a targeted, inexpensive and fast method to develop microsatellites from large-insert libraries. It is well suited to generate polymorphic markers for selected chromosomal regions, contigs of overlapping clones and yields sufficient high quality sequence data to develop amplicons greater than 250 bases.

Alleles↗
PubMed2000

Sporadic microsatellite instability is specific to neoplastic and preneoplastic endometrial tissues.

Microsatellite instability is a frequent (13%-24%) finding in sporadic endometrial adenocarcinoma and its precursor lesions, but most studies are limited to patients who already have malignant or premalignant endometrial disease. We performed retrospective testing for microsatellite instability in women in whom cancers showing microsatellite instability developed later and prospective testing in randomly selected normal and anovular endometrial biopsy specimens. Microsatellite instability in cancer-bearing biopsy specimens accurately reflected that seen in matched malignant tissues obtained at hysterectomy. In 1 patient, microsatellite instability developed in a scanty sample of fragmented endometrial tissues 7 years before the onset of endometrial cancer. Prospective testing for microsatellite instability in the endometria of women unselected for subsequent appearance of endometrial cancer showed a very low rate of microsatellite instability. Only 1 endometrial specimen showing microsatellite instability was found among 75 anovulatory endometrial specimens, and none were found in 377 normal endometrial specimens and 46 polyps examined. Microsatellite instability may precede the onset of histologically diagnosed carcinoma but is rare in randomly sampled histologically normal endometrial tissues.

Carcinoma, Endometrioid↗
PubMed2001

Nuclear- and chloroplast-microsatellite variation in A-genome species of rice.

Simple sequence length polymorphism analysis was carried out to reveal microsatellite variation and to clarify the phylogenetic relationships among A-genome species of rice. Total DNA from 29 cultivars (23 Oryza sativa and 6 O. glaberrima) and 30 accessions of wild A-genome species (12 O. rufipogon, 5 O. glumaepatula, 2 O. longistaminata, 6 O. meridionalis, and 5 O. barthii) was used as a template for PCR to detect 24 nuclear and 10 chloroplast microsatellite loci. Microsatellite allelic diversity was examined based on amplified banding patterns. Microsatellites amplified clearly in all 59 accessions, with an average of 18.4 alleles per locus. The polymorphism information content (PIC) value ranged from 0.85 to 0.94, with an average of 0.89. At the species level, high average PIC values were observed in O. sativa (0.79) and O. rufipogon (0.80). For chloroplast microsatellites, the average number of alleles per locus and the average PIC value were 2.9 and 0.38, respectively. While the magnitude of diversity was much greater for nuclear microsatellites than for chloroplast microsatellites, they showed parallel patterns of differentiation for each taxonomic group. Using the ratio of common alleles (estimated as size of amplified fragments) as a similarity index, the average percentages of common microsatellite alleles were calculated between taxa. For both nuclear and chloroplast microsatellites, O. sativa showed the highest similarity values to O. rufipogon, and O. glaberrima was most similar to O. barthii. These data support previous evidence that these cultivars originated from the corresponding wild ancestral species.

Alleles↗
PubMed2001

[A further study on potential of microsatellite analysis of urine in diagnosis of bladder cancer].

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the application value of microsatellite analysis of voided urine in diagnosis of bladder cancer and compare the advantages and disadvantages of this method and urine cytology. METHODS: Thirteen microsatellite markers, including the nine markers used in the authors' previous study and another four new markers, were tested on urine DNA from 143 individuals with or without bladder lesions in a blinded fashion. Urine cytology was applied at the same time. RESULTS: The urine DNA from 89% (97/109) of the patients with bladder cancer, 86% (6/7) of the patients with inverted papilloma of the bladder, 3 out of 7 patients with cystitis and one patient with hematuria of unknown cause showed alterations, at least, in one of the 13 microsatellite markers, while the 19 individuals without bladder lesion had no change at any of these loci. Nucleic atypia or suspicious cancer cells were detected by routine cytology in the urine of the 3 patients with cystitis and one patient with hematuria of unknown cause who showed alterations of microsatellite in their urine sediments. Among the 81 cases of bladder cancer whose urine was examined by both microsatellite analysis and routine cytology, 73 cases (90%), of various stage or grade, were identified by microsatellite analysis, while only 41 cases (51%), mainly at advanced stage, were detected by cytology. Cancer cells were detected in the urine sediments of 4 of the 12 cases that were not identified by microsatellite analysis. CONCLUSION: Microsatellite analysis of urine is useful for detection of bladder cancer. Microsatellite analysis and urine cytology could be complementary to each other.

Female↗
PubMed2002

[Association of tumor necrosis factor microsatellites TNF with the susceptibility to and outcome of postoperative severe sepsis].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether tumor necrosis factor microsatellites TNFa and TNFb were associated with the susceptibility to and outcome of post operative severe sepsis. METHODS: 122 postoperative patients suffering from severe sepsis and 138 ethnically matched healthy individuals (controls) were included in this study. The genotypes of microsatellites TNFa and TNFb were analyzed using modified nested-PCR followed by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis with silver staining. RESULTS: Microsatellites TNFa and TNFb consisted of 14 alleles (TNFa1-14) and 5 alleles (TNFb1, 3-5, 7) respectively. The frequency of TNFa6 microsatellite allele was significantly higher in patients with severe sepsis than in controls (20.1% versus 10.5%, P < 0.05). The frequency of TNFa2 microsatellite allele was significantly lower in patients with severe sepsis than in controls (21.3% versus 31.5%, P < 0.05). Furthermore, among patients with severe sepsis, the frequency of TNFa10 microsatellite allele was significantly higher in non-survivors than in survivors (19.5% versus 9.5%, P < 0.05). Whereas, there was no significant difference in the distribution of TNFb microsatellite alleles between patients and controls, and non-survivors and survivors (both P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: Microsatellite TNFa is significantly associated with both the susceptibility to and outcome of severe sepsis. In contrast, microsatellite TNFb is neither associated with the susceptibility to severe sepsis nor with the outcome of severe sepsis.

Disease Susceptibility↗
PubMed2002

Induction of a low level of microsatellite instability by overexpression of DNA polymerase Beta.

Microsatellite instability (MSI) is the condition in which high rates of frameshift mutations are observed in short tandem repeat sequences. Mutations in sequences of this type in coding regions of cancer-related genes can contribute to the development of cancer. Although defects in mismatch repair are usually responsible for high levels of MSI, low levels of MSI have been observed in some cancers with no known mismatch repair defects. We have investigated whether overexpression of an error-prone polymerase, polbeta, is sufficient to induce MSI in the presence of mismatch repair. Because overexpression of polbeta has been observed in several types of cancer, we hypothesized that polbeta overexpression might increase genetic instability and, thus, contribute to carcinogenesis. Microsatellite mutation rate analyses were conducted using a drug-resistance reversion assay, where G(17) or A(17) microsatellites were inserted into a plasmid upstream of a neomycin-resistance gene (neo), such that the neo gene was shifted out of frame. When frameshift mutations occur in the microsatellite, the neo gene can be restored, allowing for selection of revertants in G418. Microsatellite-containing plasmids were transfected into telomerase-immortalized normal human fibroblasts (hTERT-1604), where they integrated into the nuclear genome. polbeta-expressing episomal vectors or empty control vectors were then introduced for analysis of the effect of polbeta overexpression on these microsatellites. Mutation rates were determined by fluctuation analysis. Mutation rates in G(17) repeats were elevated for the polbeta transfectants at all levels of overexpression ( approximately 2-fold to >100-fold compared with vector-only controls), with up to a 3-fold increase in mutation rates compared with the vector-only controls in cells with the highest expression. A similar magnitude of elevation in mutation rates was observed for A(17) microsatellites. No difference was observed between vector-only controls and nontransfected cells in either microsatellite sequence. Cells with high polbeta expression showed an approximately 1.5-fold increase in population doubling time and a 2-fold reduction in mitotic index compared with controls. Cells with both modest and high elevations in microsatellite mutation rates had these altered growth properties. These results suggest that polbeta overexpression may affect cell cycle progression and increase genetic instability.

Blotting, Western↗
PubMed1994

Distribution of trinucleotide microsatellites in different categories of mammalian genomic sequence: implications for human genetic diseases.

The distribution of all trinucleotide microsatellite sequences in the GenBank database was surveyed to provide insight into human genetic disease syndromes that result from expansion of microsatellites. The microsatellite motif (CAG)n is one of the most abundant microsatellite motifs in human GenBank DNA sequences and is the most abundant microsatellites found in exons. This fact may explain why (CAG)n repeats are thus far the predominant microsatellites expanded in human genetic diseases. Surprisingly, (CAG)n microsatellites are excluded from intronic regions in a strand-specific fashion, possibly because of similarity to the 3' consensus splice site, CAGG. A comparison of the positions of microsatellites in human vs rodent homologous sequences indicates that some arrays are not extensively conserved for long periods of time, even when they form parts of protein coding sequences. The general lack of conservation of trinucleotide repeat loci in diverse mammals indicates that animal models for some human microsatellite expansion syndromes may be difficult to find.

Animals↗
PubMed1995

Alu repeats: a source for the genesis of primate microsatellites.

As a result of their abundance, relatively uniform distribution, and high degree of polymorphism, microsatellites and minisatellites have become valuable tools in genetic mapping, forensic identity testing, and population studies. In recent years, a number of microsatellite repeats have been found to be associated with Alu interspersed repeated DNA elements. The association of an Alu element with a microsatellite repeat could result from the integration of an Alu element within a preexisting microsatellite repeat. Alternatively, Alu elements could have a direct role in the origin of microsatellite repeats. Errors introduced during reverse transcription of the primary transcript derived from an Alu "master" gene or the accumulation of random mutations in the middle A-rich regions and oligo(dA)-rich tails of Alu elements after insertion and subsequent expansion and contraction of these sequences could result in the genesis of a microsatellite repeat. We have tested these hypotheses by a direct evolutionary comparison of the sequences of some recent Alu elements that are found only in humans and are absent from nonhuman primates, as well as some older Alu elements that are present at orthologous positions in a number of nonhuman primates. The origin of "young" Alu insertions, absence of sequences that resemble microsatellite repeats at the orthologous loci in chimpanzees, and the gradual expansion of microsatellite repeats in some old Alu repeats at orthologous positions within the genomes of a number of nonhuman primates suggest that Alu elements are a source for the genesis of primate microsatellite repeats.

Animals↗
PubMed2002

Microsatellites in Zea - variability, patterns of mutations, and use for evolutionary studies.

To evaluate the performance of microsatellites or simple sequence repeats (SSRs) for evolutionary studies in Zea, 46 microsatellite loci originally derived from maize were applied to diverse arrays of populations that represent all the diploid species of Zea and 101 maize inbreds. Although null phenotypes and amplification of more than two alleles per plant were observed at modest rates, no practical obstacle was encountered for applying maize microsatellites to other Zea species. Sequencing of microsatellite alleles revealed complex patterns of mutation including frequent indels in the regions flanking microsatellite repeats. In one case, all variation at a microsatellite locus came from indels in the flanking region rather than in the repeat motif. Maize microsatellites show great variability within populations and provide a reliable means to measure intraspecific variation. Phylogeographic relationships of Zea populations were successfully reconstructed with good resolution using a genetic distance based on the infinite allele model, indicating that microsatellite loci are useful in evolutionary studies in Zea. Microsatellite loci show a principal division between tropical and temperate inbred lines, and group inbreds within these two broad germplasm groups in a manner that is largely consistent with their known pedigrees.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2002

Microsatellite polymorphism in natural populations of wild emmer wheat, Triticum dicoccoides, in Israel.

Diversity in 20 microsatellite loci of wild emmer wheat, Triticum dicoccoides, was examined in 15 populations (135 genotypes) representing a wide range of ecological conditions of soil, temperature, and water availability, in Israel and Turkey. An extensive amount of diversity at microsatellite loci was observed despite the predominantly selfing nature of this plant species. The 20 Gatersleben wheat microsatellites (GWM), representing 13 chromosomes of genomes A and B of wheat, revealed a total of 364 alleles, with an average of 18 alleles per GWM marker (range: 5-26). The proportion of polymorphic loci per population averaged 0.90 (range: 0.45- 1.00); genic diversity, He, averaged 0.50 (range 0.094- 0.736); and Shannon's information index averaged 0.84 (range 0.166-1.307). The coefficients of genetic distance between populations were high and averaged D=1.862 (range 0.876-3.320), an indication of sharp genetic divergence over short distances. Interpopulation genetic distances showed no association with geographic distance between the population sites of origin, which ruled out a simple isolation by distance model. Genetic dissimilarity values between genotypes were used to produce a dendrogram of the relationships among wild wheat populations by the unweighted pair-group method with arithmetic averages (UPGMA). The results showed that all the wild emmer wheat populations could be distinguished. Microsatellite analysis was found to be highly effective in distinguishing genotypes of T. dicoccoides, originating from diverse ecogeographical sites in Israel and Turkey, with 88% of the 135 genotypes correctly classified into sites of origin by discriminant analysis. Our present microsatellite results are non-random and in agreement with the previously obtained allozyme and RAPD patterns, although the genetic-diversity values obtained with microsatellites are much higher. Significant correlates of microsatellite markers with various climatic and soil factors suggest that, as in allozymes and RAPDs, natural selection causes adaptive microsatellite ecogeographical differentiation, not only in coding, but most importantly in non-coding genomic regions. Hence, the concept of "junk DNA" needs to be replaced by at least partly regulatory DNA. The obtained results suggest that microsatellite markers are useful for the estimation of genetic diversity in natural populations of T. dicoccoidesand for the tagging of agronomically important traits derived from wild emmer wheat.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1993

Characterization of (GT)n and (CT)n microsatellites in two insect species: Apis mellifera and Bombus terrestris.

A set of 52 (CT)n and 23 (GT)n microsatellites in honeybee, 24 (CT)n and 2 (GT)n microsatellites in bumble-bee (n > 6) have been isolated from partial genomic libraries and sequenced. On average, (CT)n and (GT)n microsatellites occur every 15 kb and 34 kb in honeybee and every 40 kb and 500 kb in bumble-bee, respectively. The prevailing categories are imperfect repeats for (CT)n microsatellites in bumble-bee, and perfect repeats for both (CT)n and (GT)n microsatellites in honey-bee. Comparisons with data available in vertebrates indicate a lower proportion of perfect repeats in bees but length distributions are very similar regardless the phylum. This result extends to insects the concept of an evolutionary conservation for quantitative and qualitative characteristics of (CT)n and (GT)n microsatellites. Many (CT)n and (GT)n repeats are surrounded with various types of microsatellites, revealing an associative distribution of short repeat sequences. As expected, a high level of intrapopulational polymorphism has been found with one tested honeybee microsatellite. Also, flanking regions of this microsatellite are similar enough to allow PCR amplification in several other species of Apis and Bombus.

Animals↗