Greetings
Maybe I am in the wrong discussion group, but I would like to bring
up some questions on microsatellite evolution instead of celebrating
the xth birthday of a small blue-green planet at the edges of the
galaxy.
Most of these questions have been speculated upon, but as far as I
know, not much empirical data are available as to the answering of
these questions.
- It has been stated that longer microsatellites (i.e. more repeat
units) are more variable as well (i.e. have more alleles/locus) Has
anyone actually observed this? If so, is it a common feature of
microsats?
- Can anyone explain why null-alleles can exist within a species (due
to mutations in primersites) while microsatellite loci are conserved
between species?
- Is there an upper limit to microsatellite length? I should think
so, since insertions are more frequent than deletions in microsat
mutation. Or do microsats just grow and then, after some critical
threshold, just collapse and vanish?
Is there anyone out there who has DATA to shed light on these
questions?
Louis van de Zande
Dept. Genetics
RUG
The Netherlands
