Analysis of Genetic Diversity in Qingyuan Partridge Chickens Based on Microsatellite Markers

In the present study, we report a genetic diversity study of Qingyuan partridge chicken by use of 30 microsatellite markers. Qingyuan partridge chicken is a light-body type breed with good meat quality, which is famous for its 3 yellow, 2 thin and 1 partridge morphology features in China. Microsatellite genotypes were derived and allelic and genotypic frequencied, hererozygosities and gene diversity were estimated. A total of 154 alleles were distinguished. All the microsatellites were polymorphic, with mean allelic number of 5.1, ranging 2-9 per locus. The expected hererozygosity in the population ranged between 0.500 and 0.839, with mean of 0.685, indicating considerable genetic variation in this population. The F-IS values indicated low levels of inbreeding in the population. Genetic bottleneck hypotheses were also explored. Our data suggest that the Qingyuan partridge chicken population has experienced a genetic bottleneck in the recent past.