Objective: High-ranking Hanwoo (Korean native cattle) semen produces calves with superior genetic ability that significantly enhances farm profitability.However, the repeated use of this semen can lead to reduced heterozygosity and genetic diversity within the Hanwoo population, which may compromise the accuracy in parentage verification.This study was conducted to analyze large-scale microsatellite (MS) marker data to evaluate the heterozygosity of Hanwoo cow and the discriminatory power of the MS marker set currently used for parentage verification. Methods:The study population consisted of Hanwoo cows from farms participating in the Hanwoo cow improvement project, utilizing MS marker data from 778,544 heads collected for parentage verification since 2012.The observed heterozygosity (HObs), expected heterozygosity (HExp), polymorphism information content (PIC), and the inbreeding coefficient within populations (FIS) were estimated using R version 4.3.3 and Cervus version 3.0.7. Results:As a result of the analysis, the average values of HObs, HExp, and PIC were 0.771, 0.768, and 0.736, respectively.Examining heterozygosity by marker according to birth year, variability gradually decreased in most markers after 2010.This is because after 2010, as the number of animals analyzed increased to over 10,000, the variance of sample statistics decreased, improving the accuracy of estimates.The estimated FIS values suggest that the population is approaching Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium and that the risk of inbreeding is being effectively managed through planned breeding programs.To assess temporal trends in genetic differentiation, we grouped individuals by birth year (2001 ~ 23) and calculated pairwise FST values.These values ranged from 0.0003 to 0.0081, indicating overall low levels of genetic differentiation and suggesting temporal genetic stability. Conclusion:This study confirms that the Hanwoo population maintains high genetic diversity and low fixation, and that the currently used MS marker set remains robust and reliable for future parentage verification.
Kim et al. (2026) studied this question.