Sampling for microsatellite-based population genetic studies: 25 to 30 individuals per population is enough to accurately estimate allele frequencies.

ABSTRACT: One of the most common questions asked before starting a new population genetic study using microsatellite allele frequencies is "how many individuals do I need to sample from each population?" This question has previously been answered by addressing how many individuals are needed to detect all of the alleles present in a population (i.e. rarefaction based analyses). However, we argue that obtaining accurate allele frequencies and accurate estimates of diversity are much more important than detecting all of the alleles, given that very rare alleles (i.e. new mutations) are not very informative for assessing genetic diversity within a population or genetic structure among populations. Here we present a comparison of allele frequencies, expected heterozygosities and genetic distances betwee

SUBMITTER: Hale ML 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3440332 | biostudies-literature | 2012

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature