Conservation of human chromosome 18 in baboons (Papio hamadryas): a linkage map of eight human microsatellites.

A panel of 25 microsatellite loci known to map to human chromosome 18 was screened for length polymorphisms in a multigenerational pedigree of baboons (Papio hamadryas). Eight of these loci were polymorphic in the baboon pedigrees, with observed heterozygosity values ranging from 0.16 to 0.88. All eight loci show strong evidence of linkage. The most likely map order among the microsatellite loci for Papio is completely compatible with the locus order found in the human genome, and sex differences in recombination rates are also similar in the two species. We conclude that the organization of the chromosomal region defined by these loci is largely conserved between baboons and humans.