Application of microsatellite analysis in the study of the genetic diversity of the Cervus Elaphus species

Objective: to summarize scientific publications by Russian and international authors whose research included the use of short tandem repeat (STR) markers to study the genetic diversity of Cervus elaphus (red deer) followed by the selection of highly polymorphic microsatellite loci.

Materials and Methods. This analytical review article was based on scientific publications by Russian and international authors related to the study of Cervus elaphus, as well as official Russian internet resources. Publications were searched in open databases and library resources: PubMed (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/), eLIBRARY.RU (http://elibrary.ru/defaultx.asp), and CyberLeninka (https://cyberleninka.ru/). The search was conducted using the following keywords: red deer, microsatellites, Cervus elaphus, STR markers, genetic diversity, red deer breeding.

Results. Amplification of 78 microsatellite loci was successfully conducted for red deer, which was confirmed by scientific publications. The following loci were most frequently encountered in the studies: BM4107, MM12, CSSM14, BM1818, CSSM19, CSSM22, CSPS115, HAUT14, ILSTS06, CSSM16, ETH225, and INRA35. Red deer has numerous subspecies within its taxonomy, and therefore, some STR markers may be absent from a given subspecies. To conduct microsatellite analysis of Cervus elaphus and its subspecies, we selected the following highly polymorphic microsatellite loci: BL42, BMC1009, BM4107, BM4208, BM888, BM4513, ETH152, RT13, RT1, INRA11, MM12, CSSM14, BM757, BM1818, CSSM19, CSPS115, HAUT14, BMS745, C229, T107, ILSTS06, C01, T26, T108, T156, T172, T193, T501, T507, Cel_007, CER14, CSSM16, CSSM66, ETH225, INRA35, INRA005, LSCV085, OarFCB193, RME25, CSRM60.

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