Population Structuring of Land and Coastal Ducks (Anas platyrhynchos) Using Microsatellite Markers

Twenty-four polymorphic and ubiquitously distributed microsatellite loci were utilized to genotype four populations of indigenous Mallard ducks in India using Khaki campbell as an out-group. The data was used to establish population parameters and genetic relationship among the populations. All the selected loci exhibited high polymorphic information content and gene diversity. F-statistics revealed population structure in four indigenous duck populations. There was not much differentiation among the duck populations along coastline, while land birds were found to be distinct from coastline ducks. The data presented here will be useful for undertaking duck improvement programmes in future.