Genetic diversity analysis of fourteen geese breeds based on microsatellite genotyping technique

Objective: This study aimed to measure genetic diversity and to determine the relationships among fourteen goose breeds. Methods: Microsatellite markers were isolated from the genomic DNA of geese based on previous literature. The DNA segments, including short tandem repeats, were tested for their diversity among fourteen populations of geese. The diversity was tested on both breeds and loci level and by mean of unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean and structure program, phylogenetic tree and population structure were tested. Results: A total of 108 distinct alleles (1%) were observed across the fourteen breeds, with 36 out of the 108 alleles (33.2%) being unique to only one breed. Genetic parameters were measured per the 14 breeds and the 9 loci. Medium to high heterozygosity was reported with high effective numbers of alleles (Ne). Polymorphic information contents (PIC) of the screened loci was found to be highly polymorphic for eleven breeds; while 3 breeds were reported moderately polymorphic. Breeding coefficient ($F_{IS}$) ranged from -0.033 to 0.358, and the pair wise genetic differentiation ($F_{ST}$) ranged from 0.01 to 0.36 across the fourteen breeds; for the 9 loci observed and expected heterozygosity, and Ne were same as the breeds parameters, PIC of the screened loci reported 6 loci highly polymorphic and 3 loci to be medium polymorphic, and $F_{IS}$ ranged from -0.113 to 0.368. In addition, genetic distance estimate revealed a close genetic distance between Canada goose and Hortobagy goose breeds by 0.04, and the highest distance was between Taihu goose and Graylag goose (anser anser) breed by 0.54. Conclusion: Cluster analyses were made, and they revealed that goose breeds had hybridized frequently, resulting in a loss of genetic distinctiveness for some breeds.