The effect of number and type of microsatellite markers on the estimation of population parameters in genetic diversity studies

Microsatellites are repetitive regions in DNA including a homogeneous array of mono, di-, tri-, tetra-, penta-,and hexa-nucleotides with a length of less than 1 Kbp which are non-randomly distributed in the genome. The number and density of microsatellites are varying within species even in very close species such as humans and chimpanzees. The frequency of microsatellite motifs and their mutation rate are reported differently in various organisms. Di-nucleotide microsatellites are the most abundant motifs followed by mono and tetra microsatellite motifs in mammalian genomes. Tri-nucleotide microsatellites are more frequent in plants. However, the effect of different microsatellite motifs on genetic diversity or population structural parameters is a topic that has received less attention.