Genetic relationship among duck populations of India

Abstract

Microsatellite data were generated on 24 microsatellite loci in 4 indigenous and 1 commercial ducks populations to study genetic relationship. All the markers were highly polymorphic in ducks. The genetic distances and relationship among 5 populations were estimated based on allele frequencies and number of repeat units. Nei’s DA and Chord distances were utilized for construction of phylogenetic tree using Neighbour Joining algorithm. All the genetic distances point to large differentiation between the coastal ducks of India and the land ducks of India. The homogeneity of the coastal ducks especially of Orissa and Tamil Nadu reveal free gene flow among the populations and very little to no structuring of the duck populations. The genetic differentiation between the land and coastal duck populations point to their being separate entities and may be treated differently for development of breeding plans for improvement.