Harr, B., Zangerl, B., Brem, G., Schlotterer, C. (1998). Conservation of locus-specific microsatellite variability across species: a comparison of two Drosophila sibling species, D. melanogaster and D. simulans. Mol. Biol. Evol. 15(2): 176--184.
FlyBase ID
FBrf0100569
Publication Type
Research paper
Abstract
Fifteen microsatellite loci were studied in Drosophila melanogaster and Drosophila simulans, two closely related sibling species which split 2-3.5 MYA. Within-species variances in repeat number were found to differ up to 1,000-fold among individual microsatellite loci. A significant correlation of log variances between both species indicated a locus-specific mutation rate of microsatellites. Hence, locus-specific effects are apparently among the major forces influencing microsatellite variation and deserve more consideration in microsatellite analysis.
