Analysis of microsatellites and paternity testing in Rasa Aragonesa sheep

Four microsatellite loci (MAF50, MAF18, OarFCB20 and McM527) were studied i n Rasa Aragonesa sheep in order to evaluate their use in paternity testing. Several population characteristics were estimated [allele frequencies, eff ective allele number (Ne), Polymorphism informative content (Pic) and proba bility of excluding wrong paternities (Pe)]. In 32 randomly chosen individu als, four alleles were detected for MAF50, with 2.55 effective alleles, 0.5 8 Pic and 0.35 Pe. For MAF18, five alleles were identified, with 2.99 effec tive alleles, 0.51 Pic and 0.32 Pe. For OarFCB20, 10 alleles were observed, with 6.06 effective alleles, 0.82 Pic and 0.68 Pe. Finally, for McM527, si x alleles were found, with 3.75 effective alleles, 0.69 Pic and 0.50 Pe. Wh en these loci were used together with serum transferrin locus, Pe rose to 9 7.20 per cent. Field trials confirmed the real usefulness of these techniqu es. (C) 2001 Harcourt Publishers Ltd.