Editing Microsatellite (section)

=== Population genetics ===
[[File:Consensus neighbor-joining tree of the 249 human populations and six chimpanzee populations.svg|thumb|[[Computational phylogenetics#Consensus Tree|Consensus]] [[neighbor-joining]] tree of 249 human populations and six chimpanzee populations. Created based on 246 microsatellite markers.<ref name="PembertonDeGiorgio2013">{{cite journal | vauthors = Pemberton TJ, DeGiorgio M, Rosenberg NA | title = Population structure in a comprehensive genomic data set on human microsatellite variation | journal = G3 | volume = 3 | issue = 5 | pages = 891–907 | date = May 2013 | pmid = 23550135 | pmc = 3656735 | doi = 10.1534/g3.113.005728 }}</ref>]]
Microsatellites were popularized in [[population genetics]] during the 1990s because as [[Polymerase chain reaction|PCR]] became ubiquitous in laboratories researchers were able to design primers and amplify sets of microsatellites at low cost. Their uses are wide-ranging.<ref>{{Cite journal| vauthors = Manel S, Schwartz MK, Luikart G, Taberlet P |date=2003-04-01|title=Landscape genetics: combining landscape ecology and population genetics | journal=Trends in Ecology & Evolution|volume=18|issue=4|pages=189–197|doi=10.1016/S0169-5347(03)00008-9|s2cid=2984426 }}</ref> A microsatellite with a neutral evolutionary history makes it applicable for measuring or inferring [[Population bottleneck|bottlenecks]],<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Spencer CC, Neigel JE, Leberg PL | title = Experimental evaluation of the usefulness of microsatellite DNA for detecting demographic bottlenecks | journal = Molecular Ecology | volume = 9 | issue = 10 | pages = 1517–28 | date = October 2000 | pmid = 11050547 | doi = 10.1046/j.1365-294x.2000.01031.x | bibcode = 2000MolEc...9.1517S | s2cid = 22244000 }}</ref> [[local adaptation]],<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Nielsen R | title = Molecular signatures of natural selection | journal = Annual Review of Genetics | volume = 39 | issue = 1 | pages = 197–218 | date = 2005-01-01 | pmid = 16285858 | doi = 10.1146/annurev.genet.39.073003.112420 | s2cid = 3063754 }}</ref> the allelic [[fixation index]] (F<sub>ST</sub>),<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Slatkin M | title = A measure of population subdivision based on microsatellite allele frequencies | journal = Genetics | volume = 139 | issue = 1 | pages = 457–62 | date = January 1995 | doi = 10.1093/genetics/139.1.457 | pmid = 7705646 | pmc = 1206343 | url = http://www.genetics.org/content/139/1/457 }}</ref> [[population size]],<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Kohn MH, York EC, Kamradt DA, Haught G, Sauvajot RM, Wayne RK | title = Estimating population size by genotyping faeces | journal = Proceedings. Biological Sciences | volume = 266 | issue = 1420 | pages = 657–63 | date = April 1999 | pmid = 10331287 | pmc = 1689828 | doi = 10.1098/rspb.1999.0686 }}</ref> and [[gene flow]].<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Waits L, Taberlet P, Swenson JE, Sandegren F, Franzén R | title = Nuclear DNA microsatellite analysis of genetic diversity and gene flow in the Scandinavian brown bear (Ursus arctos) | journal = Molecular Ecology | volume = 9 | issue = 4 | pages = 421–31 | date = April 2000 | pmid = 10736045 | doi = 10.1046/j.1365-294x.2000.00892.x | bibcode = 2000MolEc...9..421W | s2cid = 46475635 }}</ref> As [[next generation sequencing]] becomes more affordable the use of microsatellites has decreased, however they remain a crucial tool in the field.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Allendorf FW, Hohenlohe PA, Luikart G | title = Genomics and the future of conservation genetics | journal = Nature Reviews. Genetics | volume = 11 | issue = 10 | pages = 697–709 | date = October 2010 | pmid = 20847747 | doi = 10.1038/nrg2844 | s2cid = 10811958 }}</ref>