Development of ligase-assisted spacer addition for the measurement of microsatellites

Conventional methods for detecting differences in microsatellite repeat len gths rely on electrophoretic fractionation on long denaturing polyacrylamid e gels, a time-consuming and labor-intensive method. Therefore, there is a need for the development of new and rapid approaches to routinely detect su ch length polymorphisms. The advent of techniques allowing the coupling of DNA molecules to solid surfaces has provided new prospects in the area of m utation. We describe here the development and optimization of the ligase-as sisted spacer addition (LASA) method, a novel and rapid procedure based on an ELISA format to measure microsatellite repeat lengths. The LASA assay wa s successfully applied to a set of 11 bird samples to assess its capability as a genotyping method.