Development of bovine microsatellite markers from a microsatellite-enriched library.

A bovine genomic library enriched for DNA fragments bearing poly(dC-dA).poly(dG-dT) sequences was prepared and screened. Twenty-four clones bearing microsatellites were subject to sequence analysis and marker development as appropriate. Three of the 24 clones had microsatellites that were not evaluated for marker development owing to presence of a satellite element in two cases and limited repeat length in the third. Of the remaining 21 clones, all but one yielded polymorphic microsatellites. All but two of the polymorphic markers could be assigned to chromosomal locations by either linkage analysis or on the basis of X-linked inheritance as determined by heterozygosity limited to females. An unexpected clustering of markers was observed as 4 of the 20 polymorphic microsatellites mapped to a region of less than approximately 30 cM on Chromosome (Chr) 19, and four markers displayed X-linked inheritance.