What are Minisatellites and microsatellites?

A minisatellite is a tract of repetitive DNA in which certain DNA motifs (ranging in length from 10–60 base pairs) are typically repeated 5-50 times. Confusingly, minisatellites are often referred to as VNTRs, and microsatellites are often referred to as short tandem repeats (STRs) or simple sequence repeats (SSRs).

What are microsatellites and how do they differ from SNPs?

Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are regions of the mouse genome in which two strains differ by a single base pair. Microsatellite polymorphisms can arise through replication slippage, unequal crossing over, or mutations extending or interrupting a series of repeats, whereas SNPs arise via point mutations.

Why might use of microsatellites in genetic mapping studies be an advantage over SNPs?

The rationale of this approach is that the microsatellites might act as anchors and cause otherwise unassigned SNPs to be assimilated into linkage groups. This would produce linkage maps of greater accuracy or density, which will then be better suited to searching for QTL.

How microsatellites are used in genetic studies?

Microsatellite markers are inherited from both parents, making them useful for parentage analysis (think paternity testing) and population genetic studies. These different allele frequencies increase the potential to observe genetic differences between populations if they exist.

What are Minisatellites examples?

Tandem repeats are repeated nucleotide sequences in which the copies lie adjacent to each other. It may be repetition(s) of one or more nucleotides. For example, CG CG CG CG CG is a tandem repeat wherein the sequence CG is repeated five times.

What are Minisatellites in DNA fingerprinting?

A minisatellite is a tract of repetitive DNA in which certain DNA motifs (ranging in length from 10 to 60 base pairs) are typically repeated 5–50 times. Minisatellites are notable for their high mutation rate and high diversity in the population, and they occur at more than 1000 locations in the human genome.

What are the advantages of microsatellite?

Microsatellites The mutation rate of this type of genetic marker has been estimated to be between 10−2 and 10−4 per generation. The primary advantage of microsatellites as genetic markers is that they are inherited in a Mendelian fashion as codominant markers.

What is microsatellite analysis?

Microsatellite marker analysis involves PCR amplification of the microsatellite loci using fluorescently labeled primers that flank the repeated sequence. The labeled PCR products are then analyzed by CE to separate the amplicons by size.

What is a microsatellite in genetics?

Listen to pronunciation. (MY-kroh-SA-teh-lite) Repetitive segments of DNA scattered throughout the genome in noncoding regions between genes or within genes (introns).

What are microsatellites and why are they useful for inferring population history?

Microsatellites provide data suitable for phylogeographic studies that seek to explain the concordant biogeographic and genetic histories of the floras and faunas of large-scale regions. They are also useful for fine-scale phylogenies — up to the level of closely related species.

What is the difference between microsatellites and minisatellites?

Two classes of tandem repeat sequences, minisatellites and microsatellites, have gained increasing attention from the scientific community over the past decade. Microsatellites are tandem arrays of short (usually <10 bp) units, while minisatellites are tandem arrays of longer units (>10 and <100 bp).

What are minisatellites and VNTR?

Minisatellites are also referred as variable number tandem repeats (VNTR). Minisatellites are often with confused with microsatellites. However, minisatellites and microsatellites are now distinguished based on the size of the repeating sequence by scientists. Minisatellites can be seen in more than 1000 locations in the human genome.

What are microsatellites in DNA fingerprinting?

Microsatellites are codominant and abundant in eukaryotic genomes. Similar to minisatellites, microsatellites also show polymorphism among individuals. The number of repeats for a given microsatellite varies among the individuals. Therefore, microsatellites can also be used as genetic markers in DNA fingerprinting.

What is the copy number of repeating sequence in minisatellites and microsatellites?

The copy number of repeating sequence in minisatellites and microsatellites vary widely among individuals. Both minisatellites and microsatellites are powerful DNA markers for analyzing genetic variation within and between populations of species. You can download PDF version of this article and use it for offline purposes as per citation notes.