BackgroundRussia has a diverse variety of native and locally developed sheep breeds with coarse, fine, and semi-fine wool, which inhabit different climate zones and landscapes that range from hot deserts to harsh northern areas. To date, no genome-wide information has been used to investigate the history and genetic characteristics of the extant local Russian sheep populations. To infer the population structure and genome-wide diversity of Russian sheep, 25 local breeds were genotyped with the OvineSNP50 BeadChip. Furthermore, to evaluate admixture contributions from foreign breeds in Russian sheep, a set of 58 worldwide breeds from publicly available genotypes was added to our data.ResultsWe recorded similar observed heterozygosity (0.354–0.395) and allelic richness (1.890–1.955) levels across the analyzed breeds and they are comparable with those observed in the worldwide breeds. Recent effective population sizes estimated from linkage disequilibrium five generations ago ranged from 65 to 543. Multi-dimensional scaling, admixture, and neighbor-net analyses consistently identified a two-step subdivision of the Russian local sheep breeds. A first split clustered the Russian sheep populations according to their wool type (fine wool, semi-fine wool and coarse wool). The Dagestan Mountain and Baikal fine-fleeced breeds differ from the other Merino-derived local breeds. The semi-fine wool cluster combined a breed of Romanian origin, Tsigai, with its derivative Altai Mountain, the two Romney-introgressed breeds Kuibyshev and North Caucasian, and the Lincoln-introgressed Russian longhaired breed. The coarse-wool group comprised the Nordic short-tailed Romanov, the long-fat-tailed outlier Kuchugur and two clusters of fat-tailed sheep: the Caucasian Mountain breeds and the Buubei, Karakul, Edilbai, Kalmyk and Tuva breeds. The Russian fat-tailed breeds shared co-ancestry with sheep from China and Southwestern Asia (Iran).ConclusionsIn this study, we derived the genetic characteristics of the major Russian local sheep breeds, which are moderately diverse and have a strong population structure. Pooling our data with a worldwide genotyping set gave deeper insight into the history and origin of the Russian sheep populations.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12711-018-0399-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Background: Domestication and centuries of selective breeding have changed genomes of sheep breeds to respond to environmental challenges and human needs. The genomes of local breeds, therefore, are valuable sources of genomic variants to be used to understand mechanisms of response to adaptation and artificial selection. As a step toward this we performed a high-density genotyping and comprehensive scans for signatures of selection in the genomes from 15 local sheep breeds reared across Russia. Results: Results demonstrated that the genomes of Russian sheep breeds contain multiple regions under putative selection. More than 50% of these regions matched with intervals identified in previous scans for selective sweeps in sheep genomes. These regions contain well-known candidate genes related to morphology, adaptation, and domestication (e.g., KITLG, KIT, MITF, and MC1R), wool quality and quantity (e.g., DSG@, DSC@, and KRT@), growth and feed intake (e.g., HOXA@, HOXC@, LCORL, NCAPG, LAP3, and CCSER1), reproduction (e.g., CMTM6, HTRA1, GNAQ, UBQLN1, and IFT88), and milk-related traits (e.g., ABCG2, SPP1, ACSS1, and ACSS2). In addition, multiple genes that are putatively related to environmental adaptations were top-ranked in selected intervals (e.g., EGFR, HSPH1, NMUR1, EDNRB, PRL, TSHR, and ADAMTS5). Moreover, we observed that multiple key genes involved in human hereditary sensory and autonomic neuropathies, and genetic disorders accompanied with an inability to feel pain and environmental temperatures, were top-ranked in multiple or individual sheep breeds from Russia pointing to a possible mechanism of adaptation to harsh climatic conditions.

Specific local environmental and sociocultural conditions have led to the creation of various goat populations in Russia. National goat diversity includes breeds that have been selected for down and mohair production traits as well as versatile local breeds for which pastoralism is the main management system. Effective preservation and breeding programs for local goat breeds are missing due to the lack of DNA-based data. In this work, we analyzed the genetic diversity and population structure of Russian local goats, including Altai Mountain, Altai White Downy, Dagestan Downy, Dagestan Local, Karachaev, Orenburg, and Soviet Mohair goats, which were genotyped with the Illumina Goat SNP50 BeadChip. In addition, we addressed genetic relationships between local and global goat populations obtained from the AdaptMap project. Russian goats showed a high level of genetic diversity. Although a decrease in historical effective population sizes was revealed, the recent effective population sizes estimated for three generations ago were larger than 100 in all studied populations. The mean runs of homozygosity (ROH) lengths ranged from 79.42 to 183.94 Mb, and the average ROH number varied from 18 to 41. Short ROH segments (<2 Mb) were predominant in all breeds, while the longest ROH class (>16 Mb) was the least frequent. Principal component analysis, Neighbor-Net graph, and Admixture clustering revealed several patterns in Russian local goats. First, a separation of the Karachaev breed from other populations was observed. Moreover, genetic connections between the Orenburg and Altai Mountain breeds were suggested and the Dagestan breeds were found to be admixed with the Soviet Mohair breed. Neighbor-Net analysis and clustering of local and global breeds demonstrated the close genetic relations between Russian local and Turkish breeds that probably resulted from past admixture events through postdomestication routes. Our findings contribute to the understanding of the genetic relationships of goats originating in West Asia and Eurasia and may be used to design breeding programs for local goats to ensure their effective conservation and proper management.

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One of the new promising candidate genes defining productive qualities of sheep is MEF2B. Protein from the MEF2 group encoded by it affects the production of myostatin and the expression of the genes responsible for the growth of skeletal muscle fibers. Thus, the knowledge of the MEF2B gene structure is important for genomic selection. We have studied the structure of the MEF2B gene at sheep of Severokavkazskaya breed bred in Russia. To detect alleles we use NimbleGen sequencing technology by Roche (USA). As a result, it was revealed 14 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) at the given breed. The discovered SNPare located in not coding areas. From them 7 polymorphisms are in the area of 5? upstream gene in loci: c.-1713, c.-1319, c.-839, c.-321, c.-246, c.-161, c.-3; 6 polymorphisms are in introns, loci: c.55-51, c.258+312, c.258+380, c.259-52, c.452+95, c.452+103, 1 SNP is in 3? downstream gene, c.

Cryopreservation of sperm opening up possibilities for improvement of breeding work due to the rational use of the valuable animals’ genetic potential became the basis for cryobanks of biomaterial, contributed to the widespread, the exchange of gene pool. However, AI with frozen-thawed semen is not widespread in sheep as it is in other domestic species. One reason for this is the low efficiency of frozen-thawed ram semen application. The aim of research was to study the fertilizing ability of frozen-thawed semen using intrauterine laparoscopic insemination. The experiments were carried out in Kazakhstan and Russian Federation. For intrauterine insemination by laparoscopy has been used frozen in straws semen of Polypay, Suffolk (courtesy of University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA), Hampshire, Dorset, Texel, the South African Meat Merino (represented by Animal Breeding Services LTD, New Zealand), and the North Caucasian breeds. During intracervical insemination by frozen semen, the fertility of ewes was 34.4%. When intrauterine insemination using a single detection of sheep on heat, fertilization ranged from 34.7 to 43.7 %, and when using detection of sheep on heat twice a day, fertility was 68.8%. The analysis of factors that can influence the performance of laparoscopic insemination with frozen-thawed semen is presented.

A b s t r a c tCurrently, in the total volume of poultry meat production turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) meat takes the second place in the world. According to the analytical agency (Global Reach Consulting, Russia), this segment has grown more than 8 times over the last 10 years. Positive dynamics is also observed in Russia, i.e. a 34.9 % increase has been achieved in 2015, mainly due to the use of modern genetic approaches and highly efficient technologies. The high competition in the market of the world's poultry genetic material defines the importance of monitoring its origin and genetic consolidation. It is known that one of the most informative methods for studying genetic biodiversity of different species in animals and birds is the analysis of microsatellite loci. The estimation in microsatellite loci in turkey breeds and commercial lines, bred in USA, Turkey, Hungary and other countries has allowed us to establish genetic profiles of breeds, their differentiation, similarities and differences. However, till now the study of microsatellite polymorphism in the Russian breeds of turkeys was not conducted. The aim of this work was to study polymorphism and genetic differentiation on microsatellite loci of turkeys' breeds of the Russian selection. The work was carried out at the North Caucasian Zonal Experimental Station for Poultry Breeding using the turkey breeds of the Russian selection maintained in the Breeding and Genetic Center of North Caucasian Zonal Experimental Station for Poultry Breeding. MLVA (multiple locus variable, number tandem repeats analysis) genotyping was performed on 12 VNTR loci (MNT9-MNT20). Blood samples were taken from turkeys of seven breeds: broad-breasted White (n = 12), North Caucasian Bronze (n = 12), North Caucasian White (n = 9), North Caucasian Silvery (n =15), Moscow White (n = 12), Tikhoretskaya Black (n = 10), Uzbek Buff (n = 8). DNA was isolated using guanidine thiocyanate. The quality of DNA samples was determined spectrophotometrically. The detection of PCR amplification products was carried out by the presence of specific bands on the electrophoregram in the agarose gel. To quantify the discriminating ability of the typing method, we used the Hunter-Gaston index. For grouping, the pairwise unweighted clustering with arithmetic averaging (UPGMA) was performed, the dendrogram was constructed using a computer program START-2. It is established that 3 loci (MNT11, MNT15, MNT17) of 12 investigated VNTR loci were monomorphic, and 6 loci (MNT9, MNT10, MNT12, MNT14, MNT19 and MNT20) had two alleles each. For MNT16, 3 alleles were revealed, and only MNT13 and MNT18 produced 4 alleles each. Twenty one of 26 identified alleles have not been previously described or deposited in specialized international databases that specifies in originality of the investigated Russian turkey breeds. Phylogenetic analysis of genetic distances allowed us to allocate two unequal clusters -I and II. The cluster I is formed by a part of broad-breasted White genotypes and from all genotypes of Uzbek Bu...

The aim of the present study was to evaluate seasonal changes in testes size, serum testosterone (T) levels and sperm production characteristics of 24 adult (2-3 years old) rams of meat breeds: Charollais (n = 6), Ile de France (n = 6), Dorset (Polled) (n = 5) and Dorper (Dorper, n = 7). Semen was collected with artificial vagina using a female in spontaneous oestrus (September-November, breeding season, BS) or a female with induced oestrus (March-July, non-breeding season, NBS). A total of 672 ejaculates were examined. Jugular vein blood was collected to determine testosterone levels during BS and NBS, and serum was extracted. Results of the present study indicate that there was no significant change in parameters such as body weight (kg) and testes length, both right and left, during BS and NBS, irrespective of the breed. The remaining metrics of testes differ in varying degrees between breeds of rams (with the exception of the Dorper breed) between BS and NBS. No significant variation in these parameters was found in Dorper rams. For all breeds, season had a statistically significant effect on important parameters such as total sperm count and progressive sperm motility after thawing. There was also significant seasonal variation in ejaculate volume across the three breeds, excluding il-de-France rams. The most constant was the sperm concentration, which was unchanged in BS and NBS in the three breeds, excluding Dorset rams, which showed a slightly significant decrease in this indicator in the non-breeding season. The serum content of the major male hormone testosterone (T) in rams of all breeds showed significant changes between BS and NBS, decreasing by a highly significant amount in the non-breeding season.