A PILOT STUDY ON ISOLATION OF MICROSATELLITE DNA IN THE YANGTZE FINLESS PORPOISE (NEOPHOCAENA PHOCAENOIDES ASIAEORIENTALIS)

To the aim of developing specific microsatellite markers for the endangered Yangtze finless porpoise Neophocaena pho-caenoides asiaeorientalis,72 microsatellite DNA sequences were isolated using an improved FIASCO ( Fast Isolation by AFLP ofSequences Containing Repeats) protocol.According to Weber’s classification rules,these sequences were divided into three cate2gories: perfect repeat sequences ( 58.3 % of total ), imperfect repeat sequences ( 22.2 %), and compound repeat sequences(19.5 %). Thirty PCR primer pairs were designed and synthesized,and then screened by a sample panel of 12 random selectedYangtze finless porpoises.As a result,14 of themwere proved to be polymorphic exhibiting 2 to 13 alleles (mean 5.86 alleles/ lo-cus). Their average observed heterozygosity and expected heterozygosity were 0.560 and 0.709 respectively. These are the firstbatch of specific microsatellite markers for the Yangtze finless porpoise,and they should play great role in succedent conservationgenetics studies.