David B Goldstein, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, South Parks ROad, Oxford OX1 3PS david.goldstein@zoo.ox.ac.uk Christian Schlötterer, Institut für Tierzucht und Genetik, Veterinärmedizinische Universität Wien, Vienna, Austria christian.schloetterer@vu-wien.ac.at

• 1. Microsatellites and other simple sequences ; 2. Functional roles of microsatellites and minisatellites ; 3. Microsatellites and mutation processes in tandemly repetitive DNA ; 4. Mechanistic basis for microsatellite instability ; 5. Microsatellite evolution : inferences from population data ; 6. A comparative approach to the study of microsatellite evolution ; 7. Trinucleotide expansion mutations cause diseases which do not conform to Mendelian expectations ; 8. Mutation and migration in models of microsatellite evolution ; 9. The coalescent and microsatellite variability ; 10. Estimating the age of mutations using variation of linked markers ; 11. Statistics of microsatellite loci : Estimation of mutation rate and pattern of population expansion ; 12. Using microsatellites to measure the fitness consequences of inbreeding and outbreeding ; 13. Microsatellites in conservation genetics ; 14. Microsatellites and the reconstruction of the history of human populations ; 15. Forensic applications of microsatellite markers ; 16. Tracking linkage disequilibrium in advanced population with microsatellite loci ; 17. Microsatellite markers in complex disease : mapping disease - associated regions within the human MHC ; 18. Microsatellites : a neutral marker to infer selective sweeps ; 19. Y chromosome microsatellite haplotypes and the history of Samoyed-speaking populations in N-W Siberia ; 20. MS analysis of human tumours

'...Packed with need to know facts, well illustrated and not overburdened by technical jargon, the editors should be congratulated for having had the foresight to assemble 20 chapters, each by acting leading experts in their field, which must become a standard reference work' The Genetical Society Great Britain