Genetic diversity at 13 equine microsatellite loci was compared in five endangered Spanish donkey breeds: Andaluza, Catalana, Mallorquina, Encartaciones and Zamorano-Leonesa. All of the equine microsatellites used in this study were amplified and were polymorphic in the domestic donkey breeds with the exception of HMS1, which was monomorphic, and ASB2, which failed to amplify. Allele number, frequency distributions and mean heterozygosities were very similar among the Spanish donkey breeds. The unbiased expected heterozygosity (HE) over all the populations varied between 0.637 and 0.684 in this study. The low GST value showed that only 3.6% of the diversity was between breeds (P < 0.01). Significant deviations from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium were shown for a number of locus-population combinations, except HMS5 that showed agreement in all analysed populations. The cumulative exclusion probability (PE) was 0.999 in each breed, suggesting that the loci would be suitable for donkey parentage testing. The constructed dendrogram from the DA distance matrix showed little differentiation between Spanish breeds, but great differentiation between them and the Moroccan ass and also with the horse, used as an outgroup. These results confirm the potential use of equine microsatellite loci as a tool for genetic studies in domestic donkey populations, which could also be useful for conservation plans.

-Genetic diversity at 13 equine microsatellite loci was compared in five endangered Spanish donkey breeds: Andaluza, Catalana, Mallorquina, Encartaciones and ZamoranoLeonesa. All of the equine microsatellites used in this study were amplified and were polymorphic in the domestic donkey breeds with the exception of HMS1, which was monomorphic, and ASB2, which failed to amplify. Allele number, frequency distributions and mean heterozygosities were very similar among the Spanish donkey breeds. The unbiased expected heterozygosity (H E ) over all the populations varied between 0.637 and 0.684 in this study. The low G ST value showed that only 3.6% of the diversity was between breeds (P < 0.01). Significant deviations from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium were shown for a number of locuspopulation combinations, except HMS5 that showed agreement in all analysed populations. The cumulative exclusion probability (PE) was 0.999 in each breed, suggesting that the loci would be suitable for donkey parentage testing. The constructed dendrogram from the D A distance matrix showed little differentiation between Spanish breeds, but great differentiation between them and the Moroccan ass and also with the horse, used as an outgroup. These results confirm the potential use of equine microsatellite loci as a tool for genetic studies in domestic donkey populations, which could also be useful for conservation plans. donkey / endangered breed / microsatellite / diversity / genetic variability

The domestic camel (dromedary) is the most important livestock species in the Canary Islands and the most important autochthonous European camel population. After six centuries of a successful adaptation process to the particular environment of the Canary Islands, the abandonment of traditional agriculture has led this population to a major bottleneck. Along with a lack of foreign genetic interchanges, this could lead the population to the brink of extinction. Genetic analysis using 13 microsatellites showed the closest genetic proximity to the North African (Tindouf, Algeria) camel population and a certain degree of sub-division, with significant genetic differences among breeders. An important level of genetic differentiation among the different populations analyzed was found with a global FST value of 0.116

The hierarchical population structure of five, native-Spanish donkey breeds (Andaluza, Catalana, Mallorquina, Encartaciones and Zamorano-Leonesa) has been studied using Fstatistics. In addition, nine Moroccan asses and 24 Merens breed horses were included in the analysis. Data came from 15 DNA microsatellites. The analysis shows that Spanish donkeys are substructured at both hierarchical levels studied, among breeds and within breeds (between subpopulations). In the whole population, the deficit of heterozygotes was estimated to be about 21%. The fixation

In the Western Pyrenees, three out of four native cattle breeds are in grave danger of extinction. Genetic variation of all four breeds was assessed by analyzing 478 animals using 11 microsatellite markers. A moderate/high within-breed variability was found, a favorable factor to consider when planning conservation and improvement programs. Interestingly, the only selected commercial breed, the Pirenaica, showed depressed heterozygosity levels and a low average number of alleles, perhaps explainable by intensive human selection exacerbated by a bottleneck effect. The Pirenaica also exhibited pronounced genetic differences and was the largest contributor of diversity among the breeds from the Western Pyrenees. Among endangered cattle breeds from this region, our results highlight the singularity of the Betizu. Geographic isolation among herds may be responsible for the large F(IS) value found in the Betizu breed. Lastly, our study suggests that the use of highly selected breeds may be one of the causes of distortion in phylogenetic analyses.