A PANEL OF POLYMORPHIC BOVINE, OVINE AND CAPRINE MICROSATELLITE MARKERS

A panel of 81 new polymorphic bovine microsatellite markers is describ ed, together with further information on a previously reported group o f 16 markers. The mean polymorphism information content of the 97 mark ers determined in 20 cattle was 0.66. Seventy-three of these markers h ave been assigned to chromosomes by either linkage analysis or use of hybrid cell panels. Thirty-nine of the markers were polymorphic in she ep, and 32 were polymorphic in goat. This study identified a set of 18 robust markers that were polymorphic in all three species and that co vered 14 bovine chromosomes. This provides a single group of markers, which would be suited to genetic distance analysis and parentage contr ol in cattle, sheep and goat.