Mitochondrial DNA D-loop sequence variation among 5 maternal lines of the Zemaitukai horse breed

Abstract

Genetic variation in Zemaitukai horses was investigated using mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequencing. The study was performed on 421 bp of the mitochondrial DNA control region, which is known to be more variable than other sections of the mitochondrial genome. Samples from each of the remaining maternal family lines of Zemaitukai horses and three random samples for other Lithuanian (Lithuanian Heavy Draught, Zemaitukai large type) and ten European horse breeds were sequenced. Five distinct haplotypes were obtained for the five Zemaitukai maternal families supporting the pedigree data. The minimal difference between two different sequence haplotypes was 6 and the maximal 11 nucleotides in Zemaitukai horse breed. A total of 20 nucleotide differences compared to the reference sequence were found in Lithuanian horse breeds. Genetic cluster analysis did not shown any clear pattern of relationship among breeds of different type.

A genetic analysis of the Italian Salernitano horse

“…In SAL, it was observed a moderate genetic base of maternal lines, compared with other horse breeds (Cothran et al, 2005;Pérez-Gutiérrez et al, 2008). Average nucleotide diversity values appointed SAL as genetically more diverse than other European, such as Lusitano and Sorraia (Lopes et al, 2005), and Asian (Kakoi et al, 2007) endangered breeds.…”

Evaluation of genetic variability of the breed Norik of Muran according to pedigree information

“…Therefore, it is important to preserve the genetic diversity in the horse population in order to create more appropriate programs for maintaining of breeds (Cothran et al 2005).…”

Mitochondrial D-loop sequence variation among Hucul horse

“…This also holds for the Huculs, as their genetic lines are not isolated (see Cieslak et al, 2010 for the most recent discussion of this topic). However, a relatively low degree of polymorphism was found in previous mtDNA studies of Hucul horses (Cothran et al, 2005;Priskin et al, 2010;Georgescu et al, 2011), but this finding presumably originated from strongly limited numbers of investigated individuals. In particular, based on the analysis of ten samples, Priskin et al (2010) reported that half of Hucul sequences belonged to the haplogroup F, and the remaining to the haplogroups A and C. Further, Georgescu et al (2011) found 4 haplotypes in 29 samples from Lucina Stud, Romania, while Cothran et al (2005) described 2 haplotypes only.…”

“…It appears that the part of the D-loop region, which includes the position 15874, was studied only by Gurney et al (2010), however, the substitution was not described. As for the position 16113, it is not contained in the related analyses by Cothran et al (2005), Priskin et al (2010), or Georgescu et al (2011. Table 2 summarizes the data obtained for the 165 Hucul horses.…”

“…The conservation strategy benefits from analyses of molecular genetics data describing this breed (Cothran et al, 2005;Židek et al, 2009;Priskin et al, 2010). In this work, we concentrate on an application of the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) for the description of matrilineal genetics diversity in the Huculs.…”