The present work evaluted the properties of three estimators of the inbreeding coefficient, F, in a diploid population with multiple alleles, using data of gene frequencies in individuals from random samples, obtained in simulate populations, through the SAS. Were evaluted the estimator of F, obtained by single and joint univariate analysis and the estimator of F obtained by multivariate analysis as proposed by Long (1986). The analysis of the means and variances of the estimators, obtained of 1000 estimates of F, calculated for each sample size, it demonstrated that the three estimators is bias. However, it was observed that the estimator obtained of univariate analysis it was less biased and it presented smaller variance, when the inbreeding coefficient in the population was elevated, while for populations with low inbreeding, the variance of, the estimator obtained by the multivariate analysis it was smaller.
Gene frequencies; simulation; genetic variation
