| Background In sheep breeding, there are situations where relationships recorded at the farm among pedigrees such as parent-offspring, full-sibs or half-sibs need to be tested. A panel of 28 microsatellite (MST) markers was tested to provide accurate pedigree information and resolve the common problem of significant error in pedigree records in Merino sheep. Three different flocks of Australian Merino sheep were investigated. A private farm flock represents a flock with no record availability. Two other flocks were maintained under good managements of full keeping records and being selected for high and low parasite resistances. Results In the studied panel, eight MSTs provided an average of Polymorphic Information content (PIC) equal to 0.65 or more in... |
