A tool to universally genotype Old world primates and apes

Understanding population genetics is important for monitoring wild populations in conservation contexts or for improving the knowledge of animal behavioural patterns. Microsatellites - short, repetitive bits of sequences that occur at thousands throughout the DNA - are widely applied as markers of choice for such genetic characterisations. However, microsatellite analyses are time consuming and expensive, the accuracy of traditional procedures remains limited and comparability of results between labs is poor. Scientists from the German Primate Center – Leibniz Institute for Primate Research in Göttingen now came up with a solution for these problems. In our DPZ paper talk, the three first authors of the study, Franziska Trede, Niels Kil and James Stranks, explain how they conquered the obstacles related to microsatellites and wildlife research by creating a novel panel of microsatellites that can be universally applied to all higher Old world primates and apes!


Links to Departments:
https://www.dpz.eu/en/unit/primate-ge...
https://www.dpz.eu/en/unit/cognitive-...
https://www.dpz.eu/en/unit/social-evo...

Original Publication:
Trede, F., Kil, N., Stranks, J., Connell, A., Fischer, J., Ostner, J., Schülke, O., Zinner, D. & Roos, C. (2020). A refined panel of 42 microsatellite loci to universally genotype catarrhine primates. Ecology and Evolution
https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7069

Music: "Sun Tan Lines" by Florian Decros
From Free Music Archive
CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Photos: Franziska Trede, Dr. Tabitha Price, Kittisak Srithorn, Prof. Julia Fischer, Giyarto, Anton Säckl, Karin Tilch, Dr. Peter Maciej, Dr. Tanja Haus-Maciej, Thomas Steuer
Filming: Karin Tilch & Dr. Katja Rudolph
Illustrations: Dr. Katja Rudolph
Editing: Dr. Katja Rudolph