4. DISCUSSION
4.1. Genetic diversity
Population genetic diversity can be evaluated by the number of alleles per
locus, the average number of alleles for all loci, heterozygosity, and PIC value.
In this study, 352 alleles were found for the 12 microsatellite loci across the eight
Chinese bovine breeds examined. The average number of alleles per locus,
considering all eight populations, was 29.33. It has been determined that
microsatellite loci used to estimate genetic distances should have at least
four alleles in order to reduce the standard errors of distance estimates [1].
Thus, all the microsatellite markers used in this study are suitable for population