BIOCHEMICAL ANALYSIS OF GENETIC VARIATIONS IN NIGERIAN MALLARD AND MUSCOVY DUCKS

Abstract

The genetic variance in Mallard and Muscovy duck populations was examined biochemically using the enzymes Esterase1 and Alkaline Phosphate1. 80 ducks, 39 Mallard and 41 Muscovy, provided blood samples that were placed in heparinized vials. Cellulose acetate electrophoresis was used to look into protein polymorphism. At both loci, two alleles, A and B, were found to govern the three genotypes, AA, AB, and BB. In the two breeds, the Mallard population was shown to be significant (p<0.05) at both loci for Hardy-Weinberg's Equilibrium (χ2), whereas the Muscovy population was only significant (p>0.05) at the Alkaline Phosphate 1 locus. For Alkaline Phosphate 1 and Esterase 1, the average heterozygosities were 0.456 and 0.375, respectively. The fixation indices for F_IS, F_IT, and F_ST that were analyzed had values of 0.537, 0.540, and 0.007, in that order. In this investigation, the genetic identity was 0.011 and the genetic distance estimate was 0.989. There was little genetic difference between the Mallard and Muscovy populations at the two loci that were studied.