Published in Scientific Papers. Series D. Animal Science., Vol. LVI
Written by Armandina ALMEIDA, José P. P. ARAÚJO, Ivica MEDUGORAC, Vasco A.P. CADAVEZ
The objectives of this work were to assess the genetic diversity within and between three Portuguese cattle breeds using 93 microsatellites markers. Blood samples were collected from 50 individuals of each breed, and ninety-three microsatellites were analysed to get thorough information about genetic diversity and interrelationships among three Portuguese cattle breeds: Mirandesa (MIR), Maronesa (MAR), and Barrosã (BAR). Estimates of genetic variability, observed (Ho) and expected heterozygosity (He), allelic richness for each locus were determined. The alleles were classified in three classes according to their frequency: common alleles (observed in the three sub-populations), private alleles (alleles observed in one sub-population) and rare alleles (non-private alleles with a frequency < 0.01 over the whole population). The number of rare alleles found was 52 in MAR, 33 in MIR, and 30 in BAR. The number of private alleles found was 5 in MIR and BAR, and 2 in MAR. The MIR showed the lowest genetic diversity, and the highest genetic distance to the other two breeds. The three breeds could be considered as genetically distinct populations. This study shows that measures should be taken in order to preserve the genetic diversity of MIR, MAR, and BAR cattle breeds.
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CattleConservation Genetic diversity Microsatellites
