Evaluation of genetic diversity and relationships within and between two breeds of duck based on microsatellite markers

The genetic diversity of two natural populations (M, N) of Beijing duck (Anas platyrhynchos) and 11 artificially selected lines of Beijing duck (A, B, E-L, O) from China Gold Star Duck Production Ltd., along with two Cherry Valley duck lines (C and D) from the British Cherry Valley Livestock Division, was evaluated using 18 microsatellite markers covering 16 linkage groups. A phylogenetic tree of the 15 populations of duck, formed of four main branches, was constructed from Nei’s D_A genetic distance. The mean genetic differentiation index (F_ST) in all loci, Nei’s standard genetic distance (Ds), and the genetic distance D_A between the Beijing duck and the Cherry Valley duck were 0.075, 0.143 and 0.142, respectively. These results demonstrated a high degree of genetic similarity between the two breeds and supported the hypothesis that the Cherry Valley duck was derived from the Beijing duck. The F_ST matrix of seven clusters of Beijing duck suggested that the efficiency of selection was not significant to some extent and should be supplemented by marker-assisted selection.