Distribution and characterization of microsatellites in the emu genome (Dromaius novaehollandiae)

Flightless birds, as compared to volant birds, have experienced a shift in evolutionary life-history strategy, and how this alteration is associated with C-value scores is a focus of this thesis. Examination of microsatellite probes representing four dinucleotides, nine trinucleotides and six tetranucleotides was used to estimate microsatellite frequencies in the emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae) genome in a library of 864 randomly-chosen recombinant cosmids. The average insert size was 26,774bp, with inserts ranging from 16,500 to 49,000bp. The primary cosmid library represents 1.46% percent of the emu haploid genome (estimated at 1.58xl09bp). The total number of microsatellite sites, interspersion rates and confidence intervals were calculated. The expected and observed frequencies of co-occurring microsatellites were calculated, and a chi-square test performed for significance. The distribution and characterization of the microsatellites were discussed within the comparative framework of other genomes from the literature. The cosmid library was probed with emu genomic DNA to determine the percent of single-copy DNA, which was estimated to be a minimum of 28.6%.