Microsatellite variation in Scandinavian Cervidae using primers derived from Bovidae

The possibility of using microsatellite primers developed in Bovidae to amp lify microsatellite markers in Cervidae was surveyed by using 75 microsatel lite primer sets of bovine, ovine or caprine origin to analyse DNA from moo se, red deer, reindeer and roe deer from Scandinavia. On average for the fo ur cervids, approximately 50% of the ovine/caprine primer pairs amplified a specific PCR product, compared to only 16% of the bovine primers. Approxim ately 50% of both ovine/caprine and bovine primers that amplified a specifi c product were polymorphic, giving 15 polymorphic microsatellite markers in moose, 11 in red deer, 21 in reindeer and 10 in roe deer. Reindeer had a h igher proportion of polymorphic loci, more alleles per locus and higher mea n heterozygosity than the other cervids.