Study on Genetic Diversity of Six Duck Populations with Microsatellite DNA

In this study, we investigated the genetic diversity and phylogenetic relationship of six duck populations by employing the genetic polymorphisms of 20 microsatellites.The parameters used in this study included number of alleles, average effective numbers of alleles (E) and average rates of heterozygosity of each population.The results showed that all the microsatellite loci were highly polymorphic except that the locus AJ515896 in Muscovy duck was 0. The average PIC (0.762), average h (0.7843) and average E (5.261) of the six duck populations were all high, indicating that the gene polymorphisms and genetic diversity were high.The test of Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium showed that the six populations in this study were all in Hardy-Weinberg disequilibrium.The F-statistic analysis results showed the range of F ST was from 0.0205 (AJ515895) to 0.2558 (AJ515896).The mean F ST was 0.0936.Phylogenetic study revealed that Peking duck (Z1 and Z4), Shaoxing duck, Cherry Valley duck and Aobaixing duck were clustered in one group, while the Muscovy duck was clustered in one group alone.The phylogenetic relationships among different populations were in accordance with their breeding history and distribution.Our data suggested that the 20 microsatellite loci were effective markers for analysis of genetic relationships among duck populations.(