Successful genotyping of microsatellites in the woolly mammoth

Yasuko Ishida, Alfred L. Roca, Stephen Fratpietro, Alex D. Greenwood

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Genetic analyses using ancient DNA from Pleistocene and early Holocene fossils have largely relied on mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequences. Among woolly mammoths, Mammuthus primigenius, mtDNA analyses have identified 2 distinct clades (I and II) that diverged 1-2 Ma. Here, we establish that microsatellite markers can be effective on Pleistocene samples, successfully genotyping woolly mammoth specimens at 2 loci. Although significant differentiation at the 2 microsatellite loci was not detected between 16 clade I and 4 clade II woolly mammoths, our results demonstrate that the nuclear population structure of Pleistocene species can be examined using fast-evolving nuclear microsatellite markers.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)459-464
Number of pages6
JournalJournal of Heredity
Volume103
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - May 2012

Keywords

  • Mammuthus primigenius
  • ancient DNA
  • short tandem repeats
  • speciation

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Biotechnology
  • Molecular Biology
  • Genetics
  • Genetics(clinical)

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