The highly polymorphic microsatellite markers for the greater long-tailed hamster (Tscherskia triton)

We isolated 25 dinucleotide microsatellite loci from the greater long-tailed hamster (Tscherskia triton) populations in North China. We developed the amplification conditions of polymerase chain reaction for producing high-resolution genetic markers for each locus. We found 10 microsatellite loci were highly polymorphic in 90 individual hamsters from three areas of North China, and the number of alleles in each locus varied from three to 11. These markers are potential tools for studying the genetic variation of the natural populations of this species.