-This study was undertaken to determine the genetic structure, evolutionary relationships, and the genetic diversity among 18 local cattle breeds from Spain, Portugal, and France using 16 microsatellites. Heterozygosities, estimates of Fst, genetic distances, multivariate and diversity analyses, and assignment tests were performed. Heterozygosities ranged from 0.54 in the Pirenaica breed to 0.72 in the Barrosã breed. Seven percent of the total genetic variability can be attributed to differences among breeds (mean F st = 0.07; P < 0.01). Five different genetic distances were computed and compared with no correlation found to be significantly different from 0 between distances based on the effective size of the population and those which use the size of the alleles. The Weitzman recursive approach and a multivariate analysis were used to measure the contribution of the breeds diversity. The Weitzman approach suggests that the most important breeds to be preserved are those grouped into two clusters: the cluster formed by the Mirandesa and Alistana breeds and that of the Sayaguesa and Tudanca breeds. The hypothetical extinction of one of those clusters represents a 17% loss of diversity. A correspondence analysis not only distinguished four breed groups but also confirmed results of previous studies classifying the important breeds contributing to diversity. In addition, the variation between breeds was sufficiently high so as to allow individuals to be assigned to their breed of origin with a probability of 99% for simulated samples.local beef cattle breeds / microsatellite / genetic diversity

The origin of Iberian cattle has been suggested by some authors to be the product of European and north African cattle entrances during the last few thousands of years. However, these hypotheses were mainly based on morphological similarities. This study analyzed 889 unrelated individuals from 15 representative Iberian breeds and 3 French breeds for 16 microsatellite loci. Statistical tests were used to calculate interpopulation genetic distances (D(A)) and principal components analysis (PCA). To visualize the geographical distribution of the genetic differentiation between Iberian cattle breeds, data from the PCA analysis were used to construct synthetic maps. Genetic similarity among neighboring Iberian breeds is mainly caused by gene flow. However, recent demographic fluctuations and reproductive isolation in Alistana, Mirandesa, and Tudanca has increased genetic drift, which may be the main cause for the relatively high differentiation of these populations. The synthetic maps constructed with the first and second PCs revealed (1) a large differentiation between Northern Iberian breeds rather than between more geographically distant breeds, and (2) a clear east-west gradient that may be related with the model of demic diffusion of agriculture. Finally, we detected no strong evidence for an African genetic influence in the Iberian cattle breeds analyzed in this study.

Summary The genetic structure and relationships among 18 local Southwest European beef cattle breeds (10 from Spain, five from Portugal and three from France) have been inferred from 16 DNA microsatellite loci, by using F‐statistics, for conservation purposes. Level of apparent breed differentiation is considerable and multilocus FST values indicate that around 6.8% of the total genetic variation could be explained by breed differences and the remaining 93.2% by differences among individuals. For countries of origin, the French breeds were those that showed a higher genetic uniformity. All breeds, except the Portuguese breeds Barrosã and Mirandesa, showed a significant heterozygotes deficit. Several factors that could cause this deficit are discussed, and the within‐population inbreeding estimates obtained are compared with those from genealogical data. Gene flow could have played an important role for genetic uniformity in populations of narrow geographical vicinity. Neither isolation by distance and hierarchical structure associated with geography are detected. However, in sight of the obtained results, we suggest the genetic drift as the most important factor of genetic differentiation among the analysed populations. The apparent taxonomic distinctiveness of the breeds could be, in an important way, the result of a random drift, which can affect the genetic distances among populations.

-This study was undertaken to determine the genetic structure, evolutionary relationships, and the genetic diversity among 18 local cattle breeds from Spain, Portugal, and France using 16 microsatellites. Heterozygosities, estimates of Fst, genetic distances, multivariate and diversity analyses, and assignment tests were performed. Heterozygosities ranged from 0.54 in the Pirenaica breed to 0.72 in the Barrosã breed. Seven percent of the total genetic variability can be attributed to differences among breeds (mean F st = 0.07; P < 0.01). Five different genetic distances were computed and compared with no correlation found to be significantly different from 0 between distances based on the effective size of the population and those which use the size of the alleles. The Weitzman recursive approach and a multivariate analysis were used to measure the contribution of the breeds diversity. The Weitzman approach suggests that the most important breeds to be preserved are those grouped into two clusters: the cluster formed by the Mirandesa and Alistana breeds and that of the Sayaguesa and Tudanca breeds. The hypothetical extinction of one of those clusters represents a 17% loss of diversity. A correspondence analysis not only distinguished four breed groups but also confirmed results of previous studies classifying the important breeds contributing to diversity. In addition, the variation between breeds was sufficiently high so as to allow individuals to be assigned to their breed of origin with a probability of 99% for simulated samples.local beef cattle breeds / microsatellite / genetic diversity

________________________________________________________________________________ AbstractThree indigenous Mozambican cattle breeds, namely the Angone, Landim and Bovino de Tete were characterized using six proteins, 13 autosomal microsatellite loci and one Y-specific microsatellite locus (INRA124). The Mashona breed from Zimbabwe was also studied to elucidate the origin of the Bovino de Tete cattle. Expected mean heterozygosity ranged from 0.46 -0.50 in the proteins and from 0.66 -0.69 in the microsatellites. Population genetic variability was relatively high when compared to other African breeds. Only 4.5% of the total genetic variation could be attributed to the differences among the breeds. D A genetic distances and principal component analysis suggest that Mozambican breeds occupy an intermediate position between Indian Zebu and African taurine cattle. The genetic contribution from Indian Zebu, estimated by mR and average percentage of Zebu diagnostic alleles, was highest in the Angone breed and lowest in the Landim breed. The indicine Y-specific allele was fixed in the Angone breed (classified as Zebu), was found in 62% of the Bovino de Tete breed and was absent in the Landim breed (classified as Sanga). The hybrid nature of these breeds was also revealed by using an admixture model to infer population structure. Cluster analysis correctly assigned individuals to their rightful populations with probabilities ranging from 0.96 to 0.98, using prior population information. The results support the hypothesis of the Bovino de Tete cattle being a result of crossbreeding between Sanga and Zebu breeds. This study presents the first extensive information on the genetic diversity and relationships among Mozambican cattle breeds and with other breeds from different continents. ________________________________________________________________________________