Microsatellite markers in genetic analysis of selected populations of greylag goose (Anser anser L.) in the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic

The greylag goose is a nesting bird species of the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic makes few divided nesting populations. By the morphological differences, the greylag goose bird species has been divided into three subspecies. This pilot study aimed to determine the genetic structure of this species using variability in microsatellite loci, with the main focus on populations in the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic with a future goal to determine how the geese populations mix. We used microsatellites from feathers of 27 bird individuals collected from 8 different nesting areas. The basic parameters of genetic variability were determined, the overall observed heterozygosity was 0.42 and polymorphic information content 0.52. The genotypic analysis revealed that an optimized panel of 6 microsatellites is suitable for studying diversity in this population.