Related Experiment Videos
Deterministic paternity exclusion using RAPD markers.
1Program in Statistical Genetics, Department of Statistics, North Carolina State University, Raleigh 27695.
Molecular Ecology
|October 1, 1992
Summary
Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers offer ecologists numerous polymorphic markers for studying mating systems. However, their dominant nature presents challenges for accurate paternity exclusion, often requiring analysis of over 50 loci per offspring.
Area of Science:
- Ecology
- Population Genetics
- Molecular Biology
Background:
- Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) techniques offer abundant polymorphic markers for ecological studies.
- Dominance of RAPD markers has implications for deterministic paternity assignment in natural populations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the costs and implications of using dominant RAPD markers for paternity analysis.
- To provide a theoretical framework for evaluating paternity exclusion studies.
Main Methods:
- Calculated the theoretical expected proportion of offspring excluded (P(ET)) for both dominant and codominant marker systems.
- Analyzed the influence of the number of loci, allele frequency, and sample size on paternity assignment accuracy.
Main Results:
- Paternity assignment accuracy generally increases with more loci and higher recessive allele frequency, but decreases with larger sample sizes.
- The gain in exclusion proportion with decreasing sample size was minimal.
- Codominant markers generally outperform dominant RAPD markers in paternity exclusion, except when recessive allele frequencies are very high.
Conclusions:
- Dominant RAPD markers can be useful but require careful consideration of their limitations for paternity exclusion.
- For robust paternity exclusion using RAPD markers, researchers should anticipate analyzing over 50 loci per offspring.
- Codominant markers offer superior performance for paternity exclusion in most scenarios.