Abstract
Cattle are an important livestock species for human life, but certain breeds are at risk of extinction. Maintaining genetic diversity plays an important role in sustainable breeding and conservation programmes in farm animals. The aim of this study was to determine genetic diversity among five Turkish native cattle breeds. A total of 199 Turkish native cattle of the Native Southern Yellow (n = 40), South Anatolian Red (n = 40), Anatolian Grey Cattle (n = 40), Native Black Cattle (n = 39) and East Anatolian Red (n = 40) breeds were investigated using 22 autosomal microsatellite markers. The analysis revealed considerable genetic variation among these breeds. All loci were polymorphic, and a total of 545 alleles were found. Among these loci, only INRA032 was at Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. Thirty-four private alleles with frequencies greater than 5% were found. Expected heterozygosity and polymorphic information content indexes were 0.87 and 0.88, respectively. Native Southern Yellow, South Anatolian Red and Native Black Cattle breeds were closely related. Keywords: animal genetic resources, microsatellite, genetic relationship, genetic conservation
Highlights
All cattle breeds that are used today in the livestock industry are the results of a long domestication process
Future population structures and sustainability will be determined by processes that shape the current population
Monitoring and maintaining genetic diversity is important for breeds of cattle to survive
Summary
All cattle breeds that are used today in the livestock industry are the results of a long domestication process. Domesticated breeds exhibit phenotypic and genetic diversity (Glazko, 2003). Maintaining this genetic diversity is needed to meet current and future production demand and attain sustainable animal production (Notter, 1999). Estimating and monitoring genetic variation between and within populations may contribute to designing more rational and sustainable breeding and conservation programmes by estimating the degree of inbreeding and risk status. Conservation of genetic diversity is a type of guarantee against possible unexpected environmental conditions because it is a means of maintaining potential adaptation abilities (Toro & Caballero, 2005). Anatolia is recognized as a domestication centre for cattle and other livestock species (Zeder, 2008). Fifteen cattle breeds raised in Anatolia were declared extinct (FAO, 2018)
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