Isolation and characterization of 16 novel microsatellite loci in two inbred strains of the Chinese hamster (Cricetulus griseus)

Abstract

ABSTRACT. The Shanyi inbred A and E strains of the Chinese hamster are widely used in biomedical research, but detailed genetic characterization has been lacking. We developed microsatellite markers that could be used for genetic diversity analysis and linkage map construction. We isolated and characterized 16 novel microsatellite loci from a microsatellite-enriched genomic DNA library. These loci were genotyped in 48 animals from the two strains, and the polymorphic information content was determined. In the Shanyi A and E populations, 14 and 15 loci were found to be polymorphic, respectively, with polymorphic information content ranging from 0.1393 to 0.8082 and from 0.1109 to 0.7397, respectively. A total of 115 alleles were found for the 16 microsatellite loci in the two populations; the mean observed heterozygosity (H O ) was 0.5191 and 0.4333 for the A and E populations, respectively, indicating marked genetic variation within the two populations. Correspondingly, the F ST values ranged from 0.002 to 0.9253, with an overall mean of 0.1935, indicating significant genetic difference between the two strains. The population differentiation levels were substantiated by Nei's genetic distance and full Bayesian analyses computed with STRUCTURE. Despite the genetic diversity and differentiation within and between the two inbred populations, the 48 individuals were correctly allocated into their original populations with high statistical confidence based on these 16 microsatellite loci. These novel microsatellite loci should be useful genetic markers for these two Chinese hamster inbred strains.

Development of novel DNA markers for genetic analysis of grey hamsters by cross-species amplification of microsatellites

“…Employing microsatellite biomarkers to study the genetic structure of wild animals has proved to be successful (Schmidt et al, 2008;Oishi et al, 2009). For example, Song et al (2011) reported on the molecular genetic profiles of Shanyi A and E inbred strains of Chinese hamster with 16 loci screened from a microsatelliteenriched genomic DNA library. Although conservation of microsatellites among species within the same genus has low efficiency, and often yields null alleles (Hardy et al 2003;Dutech et al 2007), we have previously obtained microsatellite loci of the Mongolian gerbil from the mice genome, by enlarging the candidate microsatellite loci pool (Du et al, 2010).…”

“…As a complementary strategy to traditional phenotype-driven genetic monitoring methods, microsatellites are useful for the analysis of genetic traits, population structures and relatedness among animals (El-Ghor et al, 2010;Nidup and Moran, 2011;Song et al, 2011). Microsatellites are also used as biomarkers for monitoring genetic modifications within rodents (Du et al, 2013).…”

Genetic variation of the striped hamster (Cricetulus barabensis) and the impact of population density and environmental factors

“…Ten microsatellite loci for C. barabensis (Song et al 2011;Xu et al 2008) were used for this study on the basis of their efficiency. Variation at each locus was assessed by PCR.…”