Molecular characterization and differentiation of five horse breeds raised in Algeria using polymorphic microsatellite markers.
In this study, genetic analyses of diversity and differentiation were performed on five horse breeds raised in Algeria (Barb, Arab-Barb, Arabian, Thoroughbred and French Trotter). All microsatellite markers were highly polymorphic in all the breeds. A total of 123 alleles from 14 microsatellite loci were detected in 201 horses. The average number of alleles per locus was the highest in the Arab-Barb horses (7.86) and lowest in the thoroughbred breed (5.71), whereas the observed and expected heterozygosities per breed ranged from 0.71 (Thoroughbred) to 0.752 (Barb) and 0.71 (Thoroughbred) to 0.77 (Arab-Barb), respectively. The genetic differentiation between the breeds was significant (p < 0.01) based on the infinitesimal model (FST ). Three different approaches for evaluating the genetic relationships were applied. Genetic distances, the factorial correspondence analysis and structure analysis showed that a significant amount of genetic variation is maintained in the native horse populations and the other breeds. The Barb and Arab-Barb breeds seem to be the most genetically related and support the decision to consider the breeds as same population.
Laboratoire de Génétique Moléculaire et cellulaire, Université des sciences et de la technologie d'Oran - mohamed Boudiaf- USTOMB, BP 1505 El M'naouer, Oran, Algeria.
N
N
Berber
S
S
Gaouar
G
G
Leroy
S
S
Kdidi
N
N
Tabet Aouel
N
N
Saïdi Mehtar
D000462:Algeria; D000818:Animals; D001947:Breeding; D006736:Horses / Q000235:genetics*; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic
Arab-Barb; Barb; factorial correspondence analysis; genetic distances; structure analysis