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microsatellite

microsatellite

1 8.1
A short repeating DNA sequence used to mark genetic differences
  • noun
  • /ˌmaɪkroʊˈsætəˌlaɪt/
  • Specialized
: microsatélite
  • Researchers used a microsatellite to track genetic variations in a population of turtles.
  • microsatellite markers
  • microsatellite polymorphisms
  • microsatellite loci

Examples

  • Loss of hMLH1 expression has proven to be one of the main causes of microsatellite instability in colorectal cancer.

    Academic text (2007)
  • Demographic analyses of microsatellite data from Pi. maculatus support a recent bottleneck signal in the San Francisco River.

    Academic text (2018)
  • Furthermore, different alleles as well as frequencies were observed in the same microsatellite site of the same population.

    Academic text (2014)
  • The allele amount of the selected microsatellite markers in this paper lies within this range.

    Academic text (2014)
  • Finally, the frequency and size range of alleles were calculated through the Excel Microsatellite Toolkit.

    Academic text (2014)
  • The most informative microsatellite was analyzed in twelve families with PKD1.

    Academic text (1991)
  • We identified two microsatellite polymorphisms that lie closer to the PKD1 locus than any previously described highly variable marker.

    Academic text (1991)
  • The most popular methodology for the examination of intraspecific population structure focuses on microsatellite loci, or simple sequence repeats.

    Academic text (2009)
  • Once identified, microsatellites are amplified using the polymerase chain reaction and sized using gel electrophoresis or an automated sequencer.

    Academic text (2010)
  • The average effective number of alleles (Ne) of these five microsatellite markers was 8.9896, among which OarFCB48 has the highest Ne (13.0962).

    Academic text (2014)

Synonyms

genetic marker
vsmicrosatellite
  • Specialized
9 4.3

A small piece of DNA on a chromosome that scientists use to identify people and follow traits in families

is a short repeating DNA sequence that serves this identifying purpose

Surface Forms

Morphology

microsatellite = satellite + micro (semi-transparent) = micro + satellite

The form is clearly built from 'micro' plus 'satellite', but the genetics sense is specialized and not fully predictable from the everyday meaning of the parts.

Etymology

Microsatellite comes from micro- meaning 'small' and satellite meaning 'something that stays near or orbits a larger thing'. In genetics, it describes a tiny repeating piece of DNA that sits near other DNA and is used as a marker to study genes.