The goal of this project is to discover if microsatellite mapping provides a method for genetic profile verification robust enough to supplant conventional allozyme analysis for routine monitoring. Consequently, we are currently using five microsatellite primer sets to amplify DNA we have prepared from tails of 54 different rodent strains housed or cryopreserved in the NIH repository. To date, we have found the PCR approach to be as, if not more, sensitive and less laborious than the more conventional biochemical technique. However, although the microsatellite method is less labor intensive than DNA fingerprinting, the latter appears, at least for now, to have greater sensitivity than the former.
