Identification and characterization of a set of 100 tri- and dinucleotide microsatellites in the canine genome

A set of 100 canine microsatellite markers - 83 dinucleotides and 17 trinuc leotides - is reported. A study of their frequency in the dog genome showed that, while the frequency of the CA repeats is one (CA)n every 47 kb, the 10 trinucleotidic frequencies vary from one every 117 kb (AGG)n to one ever y 875 kb (AGT)n. Polymorphism analysis performed on 16 unrelated mongrel do gs showed that 80% of dinucleotides are polymorphic, while only 30% of the trinucleotides are so. Of this set of 100 markers, 56 have been mapped on t he RHDF5000 dog/ hamster whole genome radiation hybrid panel. Moreover, thr ough systematic BLAST analogy searches of the microsatellite-containing clo ne sequence, three new dog genes could be identified, based on their human ortholog, All of the markers presented may prove useful in physical mapping methods, and polymorphic microsatellites in genetic linkage studies or par entage controls in dog.