Monitoring Inbreeding of WHBE Rabbits Using Microsatellites

Microsatellite polymorphisms were analyzed in F₅, F₆ and F₇ WHBE rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) to monitor inbreeding. Out of 21 microsatellite loci, 11 were successfully amplified and showed polymorphic. For the F5 WHBE rabbits, the number of alleles per locus (Na) ranged from 3 to 9 and the mean effective number of alleles (Ne) was 1.81. The mean value of observed heterozygosity (Ho) and polymorphism information content (PIC) of the 11 polymorphic loci were 0.381 and 0.524, respectively. The power of cumulative discrimination (CDP) was 1.0. The value of cumulative exclusion probability of the 11 polymorphic loci in the absence (CPE-1) or in the presence of genetic information on the first parent (CPE-2) was 0.926 and 0.993, respectively. For the F6 WHBE rabbits, Na per locus ranged from 3 to 8 and the mean value of Ne was 1.68. The mean value of Ho, PIC, CDP, CPE-1, CPE-2 of the 11 polymorphic loci were 0.356, 0.548, 1.0, 0.931, 0.994 respectively. For the F7 WHBE rabbits, Na per locus ranged from 2 to 6 and the mean value of Ne was 1.51. The mean value of Ho, PIC, CDP, CPE-1, CPE-2 of the 11 polymorphic loci were 0.287, 0.498, 1.0, 0.891, 0.986 respectively. The average number of effective alleles and the average observed heterozygosity were decreasing continuously in F ₅, F₆ and F₇, suggesting that the purity of WHBE rabbits was increasing continuously.