Genetic structure of Palm squirrel (Funambulus pennantii) using microsatellite analysis

In order to study the genetic structure of Palm squirrel, 50 squirrels were taken using proper traps, sampling and DNA extraction was carried out, using squirrel hair samples and 7 important markers of microsatellite were used. After loci amplifying by PCR and genotyping, statistical analysis for determining different parameters was implemented using statistical softwares. In this research, among the studied loci, Thu 50 locus had the highest number of alleles (3 alleles) and Thu 21 locus (2 alleles) had the least number of alleles. The highest level of Polymorphic information content was observed in Thu 50 locus. Considering the heterozygosity, the highest amount of observed and unbiased expected heterozygosity was detected in Thu 50 locus (0.250 and 0.559) and the amount of observed and unbiased expected heterozygosity were observed in Thu 21 locus (0.000 and 0.444), respectively. The highest and lowest values of Shannon’s index were in Thu 50 (0.934) and Thu 21 (0.637) loci, respectively. In this study, all loci were indicating Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium.