Abstract
This study investigates genetic diversity and structure of native Egyptian cattle populations, called Baladi, as Saidi from Southern Egypt, Menufi from Mid-Delta and their F1 crosses with the French Tarentaise breed using DNA Microsatellite markers. A total of unrelated 97 individuals were genotyped utilizing eight SSR primers (ETH10, ETH225, BM1818, BM1824, BM2113, SPS115, TGLA53 and TGLA126). All utilized SSR were found to be polymorphic. The highest and lowest numbers of alleles detected were 16 and 6 at TGLA53 and SPS115 loci, respectively. Baladi-Tarentaise crosses (Bal-Tar) had the highest number of alleles over all. The PIC values of 7 loci were higher than 0.5, indicating high allelic variation of utilized markers. Estimated PIC values were up to 0.898, 0.866 and 0.873 for TGLA53 genotyped in Saidi, Menufi and Bal-Tar, respectively. Hobs values were lower than the expected ones in the native populations accompanied with positive values for Fis and significant deviation from HWE indicating inbreeding trend in native populations. Structure analysis indicated three ancestral genetic backgrounds. The native populations share two main backgrounds in almost equal percentages, while the Bal-Tar had the third one. The three populations showed low percentage of admixture. The studied Mediterranean cattle populations that belong to Egypt and France seem to have differentiated from each other with only little genetic exchange between the geographically isolated populations so local cattle is very similar.
Highlights
Cattle are an important source of meat and milk in Egypt
Egyptian native cattle, called Baladi, had four breeds, being Domiati, Mariuti, Menufi, and Saidi (MoDAD 2004), that are defined mainly according to geographical distribution and minor phenotypic variations
The program aimed to the production of 20,000 crossbred Baladi-Tarentaise (Bal-Tar) females for the improvement of cattle production in Egypt
Summary
Cattle are an important source of meat and milk in Egypt They are distributed all over the country, with higher density in the Nile valley and delta and usually found in small holdings along with buffaloes. Tarentaise cattle, descends from the French Savoie cattle, was chosen for its adaptability to tough conditions. It makes good use of rough forage, withstands temperature variation, adapt well to arid zone, perceived as hardy, proving robust and resistant, and recognized as easy-calving breed. This remarkable all-purpose blend of hardiness, milk and beef production has carried the breed’s reputation abroad in North Africa, especially Tunisia and Egypt.
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