G. Mommens et al., EFFECTIVENESS OF BOVINE MICROSATELLITES IN RESOLVING PATERNITY CASES IN AMERICAN BISON, BISON-BISON L, Animal genetics, 29(1), 1998, pp. 12-18
A set of 33 cattle microsatellite primer pairs was tested with the DNA
of American bison from a captive population in Belgium and evaluated
for usefulness in parentage testing. Two primer sets did not amplify a
nd three were monomorphic. Among the polymorphic markers, the number o
f alleles ranged from two to nine. Heterozygosity, polymorphism inform
ation content (PIC) and probability of exclusion (PE) values were low
by comparison with those obtained with the same markers in cattle. Two
methods of estimating PE were used, one which assumed equal allele fr
equencies between parental sexes and another which took into account d
ifferences in allele frequencies between parental sexes. An internatio
nally accepted set of nine microsatellites gives cumulative PE values
of 0.98 and 0.97, respectively, for the two methods. The potential of
this marker set to identify bison x cattle hybrids is discussed. Becau
se bison and cattle have a common ancestor, these microsatellites are
a useful way to establish genetic distances and can lead to the constr
uction of phylogenetic trees.