Evaluation of genetic diversity of Chinese native geese revealed by microsatellite markers

China has an abundant and a wide variety of goose resources. The systemic estimation of genetic diversity of Chinese indigenous geese will provide an important scientific basis for the conservation and utilization of the resource. Twenty-six Chinese native goose populations were studied to estimate genetic diversity and genetic structure using 31-microsatellite markers. The genetic relationships between populations were analyzed in combination with their geographic distribution and origin of these breeds. According to the allele frequencies of 31-microsatellite loci, polymorphic information content (PIC), average heterozygosity (H) and D-A genetic distances were calculated. Twenty-nine of the 31 microsatellite loci were medium or high polymorphism, so the 29 microsatellite markers were effective markers for analysis of genetic relationship among goose breeds. The average expected heterozygosity (HE) was between 0.501 and 0.705, the numeric order of which was consistent with that of PIC, and which reflected the strong genetic potential and strong adaptability. The topology of phylogenetic tree constructed from a Neighbour-Joining method based on DA genetic distances, showed general patterns of relationship and genetic structure among the populations studied. Topology analysis revealed that the twenty-six Chinese populations were divided into five groups and that the genetic relationships among the populations had obvious association with their historical relations and geographical distribution.