title: Weak Genetic Structure in Northern African Dromedary Camels Reflects Their Unique Evolutionary History.
abstract: Knowledge on genetic diversity and structure of camel populations is fundamental for sustainable herd management and breeding program implementation in this species. Here we characterized a total of 331 camels from Northern Africa, representative of six populations and thirteen Algerian and Egyptian geographic regions, using 20 STR markers. The nineteen polymorphic loci displayed an average of 9.79 ± 5.31 alleles, ranging from 2 (CVRL8) to 24 (CVRL1D). Average He was 0.647 ± 0.173. Eleven loci deviated significantly from Hardy-Weinberg proportions (P<0.05), due to excess of homozygous genotypes in all cases except one (CMS18). Distribution of genetic diversity along a weak geographic gradient as suggested by network analysis was not supported by either unsupervised and supervised Bayesian clustering. Traditional extensive/nomadic herding practices, together with the historical use as a long-range beast of burden and its peculiar evolutionary history, with domestication likely occurring from a bottlenecked and geographically confined wild progenitor, may explain the observed genetic patterns.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Molecular and Cellular Genetics, Department of Applied Molecular Genetics, University of Science and Technology of Oran "Mohamed BOUDIAF" (USTOMB), El Mnaouar, BP, Bir El Djir, Oran, Algeria.
authors.forename: Youcef Amine
authors.initials: YA
authors.lastname: Cherifi
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Molecular and Cellular Genetics, Department of Applied Molecular Genetics, University of Science and Technology of Oran "Mohamed BOUDIAF" (USTOMB), El Mnaouar, BP, Bir El Djir, Oran, Algeria.|Department of Biology, Aboubakr Belkaid Tlemcen University, 22 Rue Abi Ayed Abdelkrim Fg Pasteur B.P, Tlemcen, Algeria.
authors.forename: Suheil Bechir Semir
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Gaouar
authors.affiliation: Department of Biosciences, Biotechnologies, Biopharmaceutics, University of Bari "Aldo Moro", Bari, Italy.|Department of Emergency and Organ Transplatation, Section of Veterinary Clinics and Animal Productions, University of Bari "Aldo Moro", SP per Casamassima, Valenzano, Bari, Italy.
authors.forename: Rosangela
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Guastamacchia
authors.affiliation: Animal & Poultry Production Division, Desert Research Center (DRC), El Matariya, Cairo, Egypt.
authors.forename: Khalid Ahmed
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: El-Bahrawy
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics, Faculty of Agriculture, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt.
authors.forename: Asmaa Mohammed Aly
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Abushady
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics, Faculty of Agriculture, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt.
authors.forename: Abdoallah Aboelnasr
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Sharaf
authors.affiliation: Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, 2 rue les frères OUADEK-BP N 200 Hassen Badi EL-Harrach Alger, Algeria.
authors.forename: Derradji
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Harek
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency and Organ Transplatation, Section of Veterinary Clinics and Animal Productions, University of Bari "Aldo Moro", SP per Casamassima, Valenzano, Bari, Italy.
authors.forename: Giovanni Michele
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Lacalandra
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Molecular and Cellular Genetics, Department of Applied Molecular Genetics, University of Science and Technology of Oran "Mohamed BOUDIAF" (USTOMB), El Mnaouar, BP, Bir El Djir, Oran, Algeria.
authors.forename: Nadhira
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Saïdi-Mehtar
authors.affiliation: Department of Biosciences, Biotechnologies, Biopharmaceutics, University of Bari "Aldo Moro", Bari, Italy.
authors.forename: Elena
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5673-0975
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ciani
mesh_terms: D000352:Africa, Northern; D000462:Algeria; D000818:Animals; D001499:Bayes Theorem; D001947:Breeding; D002162:Camelus / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics*; D004534:Egypt; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005828:Genetics, Population; D006720:Homozygote; D058751:Livestock / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats