Short tandem repeat (STR) based genetic diversity and relationship of indigenous Niger cattle

Abstract

Abstract. The diversity of cattle in Niger is predominantly represented by three indigenous breeds: Zebu Arabe, Zebu Bororo and Kuri. This study aimed at characterizing the genetic diversity and relationship of Niger cattle breeds using short tandem repeat (STR) marker variations. A total of 105 cattle from all three breeds were genotyped at 27 STR loci. High levels of allelic and gene diversity were observed with an overall mean of 8.7 and 0.724 respectively. The mean inbreeding estimate within breeds was found to be moderate with 0.024, 0.043 and 0.044 in Zebu Arabe, Zebu Bororo and Kuri cattle respectively. The global F statistics showed low genetic differentiation among Niger cattle with about 2.6 % of total variation being attributed to between-breed differences. Neighbor-joining tree derived from pairwise allele sharing distance revealed Zebu Arabe and Kuri clustering together while Zebu Bororo appeared to be relatively distinct from the other two breeds. High levels of admixture were evident from the distribution of pairwise inter-individual allele sharing distances that showed individuals across populations being more related than individuals within populations. Individuals were assigned to their respective source populations based on STR genotypes, and the percent correct assignment of Zebu Bororo (87.5 to 93.8 %) was consistently higher than Zebu Arabe (59.3 to 70.4 %) and Kuri (80.0 to 83.3 %) cattle. The qualitative and quantitative tests for mutation drift equilibrium revealed absence of genetic bottleneck events in Niger cattle in the recent past. High genetic diversity and poor genetic structure among indigenous cattle breeds of Niger might be due to historic zebu-taurine admixture and ongoing breeding practices in the region. The results of the present study are expected to help in formulating effective strategies for conservation and genetic improvement of indigenous Niger cattle breeds.

Genetic Diversity of Three Indigenous Cattle Breeds Reared in Benin

“…Expected heterozygosities expressing gene diversity values obtained among studied populations were high and varied among the breeds (75% for Azawak and Borgou, 77% for Somba). The findings concur with those reported for Senegal cattle populations (Ndiaye et al, 2015;76%) as well as those for Niger cattle breed (Grema et al, 2017;70%). However, they were higher than those reported in Afrikaner cattle populations (Pienaar et al, 2014;57%).…”

“…Genetic differentiation estimated through FST and the Analysis of Molecular Variance (AMOVA) revealed little differentiation between the three cattle populations with a variation of 1.14%. Similar values were obtained from Niger cattle breeds (0.026) by Grema et al (2017). Higher FST levels were reported in Cameroon breeds (0.061) (Ema et al, 2014), Ankole Longhorn cattle (0.090) (Ndumu et al, 2008).…”

“…Additionally, Borgou cattle breed is a stabilised crossbreed between the Bos indicus (Zebu) and the Bos taurus (Taurine). Similar trend was detected between Zebu Arabe, Zebu Bororo and Kuri (Niger cattle) (Grema et al, 2017). The cluster analysis performed using STRUCTURE revealed populations clustering together confirming relatedness and evidencing a certain level of genetic admixture between the cattle breeds.…”

Is the introgression of Lobi/Baoul cattle by zebuine genes in Burkina Faso Lobi cattle threatened?

“…The genetic diversity of Burkina Faso cattle populations sampled from different regions across the country was assessed. The mean number of observed alleles was almost similar to the 11.4 alleles per locus reported by Loftus et al (1999) but considerably higher than the 8.4 reported by MacHugh et al, (1997), 9.7 reported by Thévenon et al (2007) in the Southern-West of Burkina Faso, 4.59 and 4.37 reported in Pakistan breeds by Rehman and Khan (2009), 7.11, 7.41 and 6.74 reported in Arabic Zebu, Bororo Zebu and Kuri cattle, respectively (Grema et al, 2017). This difference may reflect an In such a situation, direct comparisons may not be possible because of the markers sets and techniques used.…”

Genetic Diversity of the N’Dama Breed in Mali Using SSR Markers

“…However the same value of PIC was observed by Ndiaye et al [5] on the N'Dama of Kolda (Eastern Senegal and Upper Casamance). According to Grema et al [25] the level of genetic diversity may be due to historical breed mixture and current breeding practices in the region. The Madina Diassa ranch N'Dama is considered as pure, the genetic information revealed in current study may be used as basic information for conservation and diversity monitoring of the breed.…”