Abstract
Recent studies indicate that the flanking region and repeat motif structure of conserved microsatellite loci are useful for phylogenetic inference. Most comparative studies of microsatellite loci involve relatively closely related species, however, primarily because primers developed for one species often amplify only related species. We describe an analysis of a microsatellite locus in lamniform sharks that we estimate has been conserved for a billion years. Combined analysis of the flanking sequence and repeat motif structure resulted in a gene tree comparable to those reported from similar analyses of other genes. The conservation of the simple sequence repeat (SSR), and of the sequence flanking the SSR, is explained by a low substitution rate in sharks coupled with the possibility that mutations which interrupt perfect repeats are lost by replication slippage. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science (USA). All rights reserved.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 205-213 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution |
Volume | 23 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - May 2002 |
Keywords
- MICROSATELLITE LOCI
- PHYLOGENETIC ANALYSIS
- MULTILOCUS PHYLOGENY
- ELASMOBRANCH FISHES
- LAMNIFORM SHARKS
- DNA
- EVOLUTION
- SUBSTITUTION
- POPULATIONS
- MORPHOLOGY