Microsatellite structures in the context of human evolution

Six microsatellite - or short tandem repeat (STR) - systems with uniform re petitive sequences (HumTH01, HumCD4, HumFES/FPS, HumF13B, HumTPO, HumLPL) a nd three compound repeat systems (HumVWA, HumFIBRA, D21S11) were used, incl uding data from the literature, to determine genetic distances among eight populations worldwide. The TH01- and VWA homologous loci in nonhuman primat es (chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans, rhesus monkeys, ring-tailed lemurs) were compared and found to be shorter than in humans. Microsatellites of lo wer complexity were most efficient for the separation of major ethnic group s. The loci of higher complexity showed a leveling of the diversity differe nces among populations, which could be attributed to higher mutation rates.