VARIATION OF SHORT TANDEM REPEATS WITHIN AND BETWEEN SPECIES BELONGING TO THE CANIDAE FAMILY

Frequency distribution and allele size in 20 canine microsatellite loc i were analyzed in 33 flat-coated retrievers, 32 dachshunds, 10 red fo xes, and 10 Arctic foxes. Overall, the major difference between the tw o dog breeds was the relative allele frequencies rather than the size ranges of alleles at the individual locus. The average heterozygosity within the two dog breeds was not significantly different. Since the a verage heterozygosity at several polymorphic loci is a relative measur e of heterogeneity within the population, analysis of heterozygosity w ithin microsatellite loci is suggested as a measure for the diversity of populations. Eighty percent (16 of 20) of the canine microsatellite primer pairs amplified corresponding loci in the two fox species. Thi s reflects a very high sequence conservation within the Canidne family relative to findings in, for instance, the Muridae family. This indic ates that it will be possible to utilize the well-characterized fox ka ryotype instead of the dog karyotype as a step towards physical mappin g of the dog genome. Analysis of exclusion power and probabilities of genetic identity between unrelated animals by use of the seven most in formative loci demonstrated that it will be possible to assemble a pan el of microsatellite loci that is effective for parentage analysis in all breeds.