TURKEY MICROSATELLITE DNA LOCI AMPLIFIED BY CHICKEN-SPECIFIC PRIMERS

Forty-eight primer-pairs complementary to unique DNA sequences flankin g chicken (genus Gallus) genomic (TG)(n) microsatellite repeats were p reviously designed. These primer-pairs were used in the polymerase cha in reaction to amplify turkey (genus Meleagris) genomic DNA loci. Resu lts indicated that the majority (92%) of these primer-pairs generated amplification products in turkey genomic DNA. Hybridization using end- labelled (TG)8 as a probe showed that, out of 41 primer-pairs tested, only 14 generated an amplification product that also contained a detec table (TG)(n) microsatellite repeat when turkey DNA was the template. Among 18 primer-pairs tested for polymorphism, using three commercial turkey lines, five were found to exhibit length polymorphism, three of which did not contain a detectable TG(8) repeat. Therefore, a signifi cant portion of chicken microsatellite markers can be useful for genom ic mapping and linkage analysis in the turkey, reducing the costs invo lved in producing turkey-specific microsatellite markers.