A simple PCR procedure for discovering microsatellites from small insert libraries

Abstract

Abstract Microsatellite discovery from genomic libraries is tedious because of the low number of clones that contain inserts and costly because of screening methodologies. A new procedure for screening clones for microsatellite DNA is described herein. Instead of colony hybridization, a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with two vector standard primers and one synthesized repeat primer was used to directly screen colonies. PCR of colonies that produced a strong smear in gels contained the desired motif, whereas a single strong band indicated the lack of the desired motif. This simple screening method is a cost‐effective way to identify microsatellite‐containing colonies.