Evaluation of microsatellite markers for use during genotyping and parentage exclusion for dromedary camels in qatar

This study was aimed to evaluate the efficiency of 20 previously published microsatellite markers for the determination of parentage within the racing camel population in Qatar, using multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR), capillary electrophoresis, and genotyping. These markers amplified 127 alleles, and 15 out of 20 loci were polymorphic among the dromedary camels in Qatar, with an average of 8.13 alleles per locus. The mean expected heterozygosity (H_e) among the studied population was 0.562 (range 0.114–0.867). The polymorphic information content (PIC) ranged from 0.107 to 0.852, with an average value of 0.516. These results indicated a low probability of identity (2.10E⁻¹¹), with a high parentage exclusion probability if either one (0.99959) or both parents (0.99999) were putative. In those study cases with parentage assignment, the 15 microsatellite loci successfully assigned 135 young calves to the correct parents, with 95% confidence. Our results demonstrated that a set of nine microsatellite DNA markers could provide highly precise individual identification and paternity assignment within the studied camel population.