DNA fingerprinting of the roe deer, Capreolus capreolus L.

1. After digestion of roe deer DNA with the restriction enzyme HaeIII, microsatellite sequences cross-hybridize with the digoxigenin-labeled multilocus probe (GTG)5 yielding non-radioactive DNA fingerprints. 2. Since different organs of the same individual exhibit identical fingerprints, somatic stability is confirmed. 3. The method discloses a high potential of individualization. The probability that two unrelated roe deer have identical fingerprints was found to be 10(-7). 4. It is shown that band-similarity indices can be used to estimate the degree of relationship within groups of individuals.