Population genetic structure of wild boars in the West Balkan region.

We investigated the population genetic structure of wild boars from Vojvodina (Serbia), Slavonija (Croatia) and Bosnia using four microsatellite markers. All loci presented a high degree of polymorphism and a total of 76 alleles (mean 19 alleles per locus) were detected. Average observed heterozygosity (Ho) value was 0.60. Deviation from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium was found due to significant heterozygote deficiency detected for three of the four analyzed loci and for all populations. F(IS) value over all loci and all populations was 0.29, and the effective number of migrants based on private alleles was 1.64. Sufficient levels of gene flow were found between all populations and the spatial structure showed slightly closer nuclear gene pool affinity of Vojvodina and Slavonija populations in relation of Bosnia population.