Genetic diversity of indigenous guinea fowl (Numida meleagris) using microsatellite markers in northern Togo Soara, Aïcha Edith Bakkali, Mohammed Indigenous guinea fowl Genetic diversity Microsatellite markers Togo The present study was financially supported by the German Academic Exchange Service Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD) through the In-Country/In-Region scholarship program. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Indigenous guinea fowl is an important animal resource for improving rural household income. In order to provide molecular data for a sustainable management of this poultry resource, an assessment of the genetic diversity and phylogenic relationships was undertaken on seven guinea fowl phenotypes from two agroecological zones (Dry Savannah and Atakora) of Togo. Genotyping was carried out using 18 microsatellite markers on 94 individuals from Dry Savannah (59) and Atakora (35) zones. The results obtained showed a high genetic diversity, with six as an average alleles per locus and an observed heterozygosity of 0.512. However, the FIS values varied from 0.047 (Lavender) to 0.257 (Albino), reflecting a deficit of heterozygotes, which suggests low to moderate inbreeding levels. The genetic distances between phenotypes are low, ranging from 0.0068 (Bonaparte-Pearl grey) to 0.1559 (Lavender-Albino), unlike the strong genetic identities that reflect a strong genetic similarity between the seven phenotypes of indigenous guinea fowl studied. These results indicate the existence of a single indigenous guinea fowl population, derived from three probable parental populations, with a high within population genetic diversity (phenotypic or agroecological zone). These results could be of use to conservation and improvement programs aiming at the maintenance and sustainable exploitation of this important socio-cultural and economic resource in Togo. 2022-03-02T12:22:22Z 2022-03-02T12:22:22Z 2022-01-20 journal article Soara AE... [et al.] 2022. Genetic diversity of indigenous guinea fowl (Numida meleagris) using microsatellite markers in northern Togo. PeerJ 10:e12637 [http://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.12637] http://hdl.handle.net/10481/73072 10.7717/peerj.12637 eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/es/ open access Atribución 3.0 España PeerJ