High polymorphism at microsatellite loci in the Chinese donkey

Abstract

ABSTRACT. To reveal the genetic diversity and phylogenetic relationships between Chinese donkey breeds, 415 individuals representing ten breeds were investigated using ten microsatellite markers. The observed number of alleles, mean effective number of alleles (N E ), mean expected heterozygosity (H E ), and polymorphic information content (PIC) of each breed and polymorphic locus were analyzed. The results showed that seven (HTG7, HTG10, AHT4, HTG6, HMS6, HMS3, and HMS7) of ten microsatellite loci were polymorphic. The mean PIC, H E , and N E of seven polymorphic loci for the ten donkey breeds were 0.7679, 0.8072, and 6.0275, respectively. These results suggest that domestic Chinese donkey breeds possess higher levels of genetic diversity and heterozygosity than foreign donkeys. A neighbor-joining tree based on Nei's standard genetic distance showed that there was close genetic distance among Xinjiang, Qingyang, Xiji, and Guanzhong donkey breeds. In addition, Mongolia and Dezhou donkey breeds were placed in the same category. The phylogenetic tree revealed that the genetic relationships between Chinese donkey breeds are consistent with their geographic distribution and breeding history.

Genetic Characterization of Native Donkey (Equus asinus) Populations of Turkey Using Microsatellite Markers

“…These results are comparable to the previous values reported in Balkan donkeys [35], Spanish donkeys [36] and Catalonian donkeys [37]. In terms of mean number of alleles, the genetic variability observed in the 16 Turkish donkey populations was lower than that reported in Catalonian donkey breed [37], five Spanish breeds [36], three Croatian donkey populations [38], 15 indigenous Chinese donkey breeds [39][40][41][42], Balkan donkeys [35] and Tunisian donkeys [43], but higher than that observed in the seven indigenous Italian donkey breeds [44][45][46][47].…”

“…The results of microsatellite polymorphism revealed relatively high degree of heterozygosity in the Turkish donkey populations investigated in this study. Among Turkish donkey populations, the H E ranged from 0.6294 (ISP) to 0.6983 (ANT), which showed a comparable level to the previous values reported in Spanish donkeys [ 36 ], Catalonian donkey breeds [ 37 ], Croatian coast donkey populations [ 48 ], Balkan donkey breeds [ 35 ], Tunisian donkeys [ 43 ], Chinese donkey breeds [ 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 ] and was more diversified than Italian [ 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 ] and American donkeys [ 49 ]. This finding indicates that there are appreciable differences in the level of genetic variability among 16 Turkish donkey populations.…”

“…The global mean of the genetic diversity value (D ST ) indicated that the low diversity among 16 Turkish donkey populations studied. Nei’s gene diversity values (H T ) was considerably lower than Zhang et al [ 40 ] in Chinese donkey breeds, but similar to Aranguren—Mèndez et al [ 36 ] in 5 endangered Spanish donkey breeds. The average G ST value obtained from overall loci pointed out that 2% of total genetic variation resulted from the differences between the populations.…”

“…Additionally, four loci (HMS07, VHL209, ASB02 and HTG10) showed moderate polymorphism (PIC > 0.25). PIC values calculated in the present investigation were comparable with those reported by Aranguren – Mèndez et al [ 36 ] in 5 endangered Spanish donkey breeds (0.20–0.85), Ivankovic et al [ 38 ] in 3 Croatian donkey populations (0.36–0.78), Bordonaro et al [ 46 ] in Pantesco and two Sicilian autochthonous donkey breeds (0.146–0.796), Matassino et al [ 47 ] in two Italian autochthonous donkey breeds (0.1918–0.8522), Zhang et al [ 40 ] in 10 Chinese donkey breeds (0.7218–0.7967), Stanisic et al [ 35 ] in Balkan donkey breeds (0.07–0.84) and by Zeng et al [ 42 ] in Chinese donkey breeds (0.1489–0.8670). The variability in PIC values found in literature may be due to different microsatellite markers used in the studied populations.…”

Origin, Evolution, and Research Development of Donkeys

“…The results indicated that the microsatellites of similar species are conserved and could be used to analyze the genetic diversity of donkeys. Researchers also needed to have a deeper understanding of the genetic information and genetic relationships within and among breeds to obtain more accurate and generalized conclusions, which could be more effectively applied to the conservation and further utilization of donkey breeds [ 35 , 36 , 37 ]. In terms of average allele number, the genetic variability observed in three Sicilian donkey breeds should be lower than in five Spanish and three Croatian breeds but higher than in the Italian Amiata donkey [ 38 ].…”