Polymorphic microsatellite loci of the rat (Rattus norvegicus).

The EMBL and GenBank DNA databases were searched for microsatellite sequences of the rat containing dinucleotide repeats of (CA)n and (GA)n. Among those obtained, 23 sequences were analyzed by polymerase chain reaction to examine the size variation of the amplified fragment in inbred rat strains. All of the 23 microsatellite sequences varied in size among the strains tested. The 23 microsatellite loci in a pair of substrains separated from the same progenitor strain were then analyzed. Fragments identical in size were observed in all loci of the two substrains, indicating the stability of the microsatellite over a large number of generations. The microsatellite loci, therefore, should be useful markers for linkage analyses in the rat.