title: Genetic characterization of local Criollo pig breeds from the Americas using microsatellite markers.
abstract: Little is known about local Criollo pig genetic resources and relationships among the various populations. In this paper, genetic diversity and relationships among 17 Criollo pig populations from 11 American countries were assessed with 24 microsatellite markers. Heterozygosities, F-statistics, and genetic distances were estimated, and multivariate, genetic structure and admixture analyses were performed. The overall means for genetic variability parameters based on the 24 microsatellite markers were the following: mean number of alleles per locus of 6.25 ± 2.3; effective number of alleles per locus of 3.33 ± 1.56; allelic richness per locus of 4.61 ± 1.37; expected and observed heterozygosity of 0.62 ± 0.04 and 0.57 ± 0.02, respectively; within-population inbreeding coefficient of 0.089; and proportion of genetic variability accounted for by differences among breeds of 0.11 ± 0.01. Genetic differences were not significantly associated with the geographical location to which breeds were assigned or their country of origin. Still, the NeighborNet dendrogram depicted the clustering by geographic origin of several South American breeds (Criollo Boliviano, Criollo of northeastern Argentina wet, and Criollo of northeastern Argentina dry), but some unexpected results were also observed, such as the grouping of breeds from countries as distant as El Salvador, Mexico, Ecuador, and Cuba. The results of genetic structure and admixture analyses indicated that the most likely number of ancestral populations was 11, and most breeds clustered separately when this was the number of predefined populations, with the exception of some closely related breeds that shared the same cluster and others that were admixed. These results indicate that Criollo pigs represent important reservoirs of pig genetic diversity useful for local development as well as for the pig industry.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Producción Animal, Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias, Universidad Nacional del Nordeste, 3400 Corrientes, Argentina toninacereza@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Revidatti
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Genética, Campus de Excelencia Internacional, Universidad de Córdoba, 14071 Córdoba, Spain.
authors.forename: J V
authors.initials: JV
authors.lastname: Delgado Bermejo
authors.affiliation: CIISA- Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária, Universidade de Lisboa, 1300-477 Lisboa, Portugal.
authors.forename: L T
authors.initials: LT
authors.lastname: Gama
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Genética, Campus de Excelencia Internacional, Universidad de Córdoba, 14071 Córdoba, Spain.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Landi Periati
authors.affiliation: Centro de Biologia Ambiental, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, 1749-016 Lisboa, Portugal The names and of scientists working with the BioPig Consortium are listed at http://biopig.jimdo.com/investigadores.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ginja
authors.affiliation: Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Sede Palmira, CR 32 no. 12-00 Chapinero, Palmira, Valle del Cauca, Colombia. AA 237.
authors.forename: L A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Alvarez
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Investigación Aplicada, Cría Caballar de las Fuerzas Armadas, 14080 Córdoba, Spain.
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Vega-Pla
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Genética, Campus de Excelencia Internacional, Universidad de Córdoba, 14071 Córdoba, Spain.
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Martínez
mesh_terms: D000483:Alleles; D000569:Americas; D000818:Animals; D001947:Breeding / Q000379:methods*; D014644:Genetic Variation / Q000235:genetics; D006579:Heterozygote; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats / Q000235:genetics*; D013552:Swine / Q000235:genetics*
keywords: Criollo pigs; admixture; biodiversity; genetic resources; genetic structure; microsatellite