Genotyping with Sequenom.

Often in evolutionary genetics research, one needs to analyze polymorphisms in populations for which cost-efficient high-throughput arrays are nonexistent, either because the species is not a model organism or because the populations have been subjected to such specific conditions that their base variation is almost unique. In this situation, custom-made genotyping assays are required. Sequenom's MassARRAY(®) genotyping platform is a powerful and flexible method for assaying up to a few thousand markers and up to thousands of individuals. It is based on distinguishing allele-specific primer extension products by mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF). Most stages of the experimental protocol reflect adaptations of established PCR protocols to multiplexing, which allows the simultaneous amplification and detection of multiple markers per reaction.