Abstract
Inter simple sequence repeat (ISSR) amplification was used to study the genetic diversity between three populations of the Sicilian-Sardinian dairy sheep breed. This breed is only found in the north of Tunisia (Beja and Bizerte governorates) where the climate is subhumid (> 600 mm / year) and is favorable to large forage production. The studied animals belong to three regions: Gnadil (Beja), Nagachia (Beja) and Fretissa (Bizerte). In total, 153 bands were amplified and all were polymorphic (100%). Within populations, the Nei’s gene diversity, the Shannon index and the percentage of polymorphic loci were between 0.08 and 0.16, 0.13 and 0.27 and 30.72% and 77.78% respectively. The coefficient of gene differentiation (Gst) and the gene flow (Nm) between populations varied from 0.12-0.2 and 1.99-3.65. The UPGMA dendrogram, grouping the three studied populations, based on the Nei’s standard genetic distances showed that the populations of Nagachia and Fretissa are genetically the closest while the population of Gnadil is the most distant one.
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