Abstract
BackgroundThe Hungarian draft is a horse breed with a recent mixed ancestry created in the 1920s by crossing local mares with draught horses imported from France and Belgium. The interest in its conservation and characterization has increased over the last few years. The aim of this work is to contribute to the characterization of the endangered Hungarian heavy draft horse populations in order to obtain useful information to implement conservation strategies for these genetic stocks.MethodsTo genetically characterize the breed and to set up the basis for a conservation program, in the present study a hypervariable region of the mitochrondial DNA (D-loop) was used to assess genetic diversity in Hungarian draft horses. Two hundred and eighty five sequences obtained in our laboratory and 419 downloaded sequences available from Genbank were analyzed.ResultsOne hundred and sixty-four haplotypes and thirty-six polymorphic sites were observed. High haplotype and nucleotide diversity values (Hd = 0.954 ± 0.004; π = 0.028 ± 0.0004) were identified in Hungarian population, although they were higher within than among the different populations (Hd = 0.972 ± 0.002; π = 0.03097 ± 0.002). Fourteen of the previously observed seventeen haplogroups were detected.DiscussionOur samples showed a large intra- and interbreed variation. There was no clear clustering on the median joining network figure. The overall information collected in this work led us to consider that the genetic scenario observed for Hungarian draft breed is more likely the result of contributions from ‘ancestrally’ different genetic backgrounds. This study could contribute to the development of a breeding plan for Hungarian draft horses and help to formulate a genetic conservation plan, avoiding inbreeding while.
Highlights
In recent decades, various types of animal species have been investigated with special emphasis on improving the efficiency of selection programs and the use of modern molecular genetic methods has increased considerably
The haplotypes obtained were compared with an Equus caballus reference sequence available from Genbank and used by Hill et al (2002)
No genetic studies have been done on endangered Hungarian cold-blooded horses; the purpose of this work was to contribute to the characterization of the endangered Hungarian heavy draft horse populations in order to obtain useful information to implement conservation strategies for these genetic stocks
Summary
Various types of animal species have been investigated with special emphasis on improving the efficiency of selection programs and the use of modern molecular genetic methods has increased considerably. It is generally accepted that detailed molecular genetic data describing inter- and intraspecies diversity are essential for the effective management of genetic resources among economic animal varieties (Weitzman, 1993; Hall & Bradley, 1995; Barker, 1999; Ruane, 2000; Bruford, Bradley & Luikart, 2003; Simianer, 2005; Toro & Caballero, 2005; Toro, Fernandez & Caballero, 2009; Ginja et al, 2013) These data as well as the continuous development of technology offer many new opportunities for researchers. The aim of this work is to contribute to the characterization of the endangered Hungarian heavy draft horse populations in order to obtain useful information to implement conservation strategies for these genetic stocks. This study could contribute to the development of a breeding plan for Hungarian draft horses and help to formulate a genetic conservation plan, avoiding inbreeding while
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