Paternity testing for crab-eating macaques and rhesus macaques using microsatellite markers

Abstract

Accurate macaque paternity identification is of great significance in various fields, yet relevant research remains scarce. Our study aimed to screen effective microsatellite markers for macaque paternity testing. Initially, 300 microsatellite markers were randomly selected from the genome of the crab-eating macaque (Macaca fascicularis), and 12 highly polymorphic tetra-nucleotide repeat markers were identified. These markers' genetic parameters and exclusion probabilities in both crab-eating and rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta) populations were calculated, meeting the paternity testing requirements for both species. To validate the markers, 16 crab-eating macaque and 10 rhesus macaque families with known pedigrees were randomly chosen for testing. The genotypes of the 12 markers in the macaques' offspring could be traced back to their parents, confirming the accuracy and applicability of the marker combination for paternity identification in both macaque species.

Keywords

crab-eating macaques / microsatellite / paternity test / rhesus macaques

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2025 The Author(s). Animal Models and Experimental Medicine published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of The Chinese Association for Laboratory Animal Sciences.