Gene Conservation Laboratory

Analysis of Microsatellite DNA on an Automated Capillary Sequencer

Analysis of microsatellite DNA is done on an automated capillary sequencer. Each of the 48 horizontal lanes in this photo represents a single fish migrating through a single capillary.

Fluorescent chemistry allows the detection of five different genes in each lane of this multiplex run. One advantage of microsatellite analysis is that tissue samples do not need to be frozen. In microsatellite analysis, the scoring of genetic variation is made easier by software that teases apart the individual loci resolved using the fluorescent detection system.