Abundant genetic variation in humans is widely distributed across the genome. The project of reconstructing human population divergence is best served by those genetic markers differentiating populations. The purpose of this study is to evaluate a large number of microsatellite markers in a sample of human populations for use in a Human Genome Diversity Project (HGDP). Microsatellite loci are regions of repeating DNA sequence. They are utilized for many purposes, including the localization of human disease genes. This study will produce three results pertinent to advancing HGDP goals: a description of the variation (heterozygosity and polymorphism) of several hundred genetic markers among five study populations, the relative informativeness of each marker for studying population divergence, and finally a methodological characterization of each marker for application in diverse laboratory settings. This enormous amount of genetic data will be generated with new methods involving automated typing technology and a novel strategy using pooled DNA samples.
