Genetic diversity and population structure of 20 north European cattle breeds

Abstract

Blood samples were collected from 743 animals from 15 indigenous, 2 old imported, and 3 commercial North European cattle breeds. The samples were analyzed for 11 erythrocyte antigen systems, 8 proteins, and 10 microsatellites, and used to assess inter- and intrabreed genetic variation and genetic population structures. The microsatellites BoLA-DRBP1 and CSSM66 were nonneutral markers according to the Ewens-Watterson test, suggesting some kind of selection imposed on these loci. North European cattle breeds displayed generally similar levels of multilocus heterozygosity and allelic diversity. However, allelic diversity has been reduced in several breeds, which was explained by limited effective population sizes over the course of man-directed breed development and demographic bottlenecks of indigenous breeds. A tree showing genetic relationships between breeds was constructed from a matrix of random drift-based genetic distance estimates. The breeds were classified on the basis of the tree topology into four major breed groups, defined as Northern indigenous breeds, Southern breeds, Ayrshire and Friesian breeds, and Jersey. Grouping of Nordic breeds was supported by documented breed history and geographical divisions of native breeding regions of indigenous cattle. Divergence estimates between Icelandic cattle and indigenous breeds suggested a separation time of more than 1,000 years between Icelandic cattle and Norwegian native breeds, a finding consistent with historical evidence.

Hierarchical analysis of genetic structure in Spanish donkey breeds using microsatellite markers

“…than 5% is due to differences among breeds. These values of total genetic differentiation (F ST ) among breeds are close to those found in other domestic species, for example: among river buffalo breeds (F ST = 0.038, Barker et al, 1997), among Spanish horse breeds (F ST = 0.078, Cañ on et al, 2000), though they are slightly lower than those found in Norwegian horse breeds (F ST = 0.12, Bjørnstad et al, 2000), in European cattle breeds (F ST = 0.11, MacHugh et al, 1998;Kantanen et al, 2000) and among Spanish dogs (F ST = 0.099, Jordana et al, 1992). The results from the hierarchical analysis further show that populations of Spanish donkeys are substructured at different levels ( Table 2).…”

Reduced genetic structure of north Ethiopian cattle revealed by Y-chromosome analysis

“…We would argue that traditional classification criteria alone cannot explain the substructure of Y-chromosome variation in north Ethiopian cattle populations. It has also been suggested that the topography, which contributes much to the wide variation in climate, soil, natural vegetation and settlement pattern of domestic species, has strongly influenced the distribution of cattle regionally and continentally (Kantanen et al, 2000;Hanotte et al, 2002;Li et al, 2002). The topography of the region is best described as a complex blend of highland (Arado), rugged terrain (Irob), lowland (Abergelle and Begait), steppe and semi-desert (Afra and Raya), and plain (Fogrea).…”

A review on SNP and other types of molecular markers and their use in animal genetics

“…However, the reality is not quite so clear cut and when tests for neutrality are performed, some microsatellites are clearly not neutral. Kantanen et al (2000) [37], found that 2 out of 10 microsatellite loci significantly violated the null hypothesis of neutrality, when the Ewens-Watterson test was applied. In fact, this kind of approach can be used to test the effects of selection and was applied on a selection experiment in chickens, by calculating genetic distances between the initial and final generations, for many loci along a genetic map (Laval, personal communication).…”