Development of an effective microsatellite marker system to determine the genetic structure of Meriones meridianus populations

Understanding the genetic quality of the gerbil, Meriones meridianus, plays an important role in the study of medical biology. However, no effective system has been established for evaluating a population’s genetic diversity to date. In the present study, we established a set of reasonable evaluative systems based on microsatellite markers of the Mongolian gerbil by using the method of cross-amplification of species. Following electrophoresis analysis, short tandem repeat (STR) scanning, and sequencing, 11 microsatellite loci were identified by matching the criteria characteristics and were used to evaluate the genetic diversity of two stocks of Meriones meridianus: Meriones meridianus jei Wang, 1964 (M. m. jei) and Meriones meridianus cryptorhinus Blanford, 1875 (M. m. cryptorhinus) from Xinjiang, China. The microsatellite loci screened were highly polymorphic and were suitable for genetic quality control of Meriones meridianus. In addition, the quality of the non-bred M. m. jei and M. m. cryptorhinus strains in our study is sufficient for them to be promising stocks in the future for the farmed animal industry.