Biodiv Sci ›› 2008, Vol. 16 ›› Issue (1): 53-62.  DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1003.2008.07050

• Original article • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Genetic relationships of domestic sheep and goats in the lower reaches of the Yellow River based on microsatellite analysis

Jianmin Wang1,2, Wenbin Yue1,*   

  1. 1 College of Animal Science, Shanxi Agriculture University, Taigu 030801
    2 College of Animal Science, Shandong Agriculture University, Tai’an 271018
  • Received:2007-02-15 Accepted:2007-07-30 Online:2008-01-27 Published:2008-01-27
  • Contact: Wenbin Yue

Abstract:

We assessed the genetic structure and phylogenic relationships of domestic native sheep and goat breeds from the lower reaches of the Yellow River using 13 microsatellite loci. The results showed that most of these loci were in Hardy-Weinberg disequilibrium (P< 0.01), and about 61.53% of the loci were neutral, indicating that evolutionary forces such as artificial selection and migration might have effect on these breeds. We compared the total and effective number of alleles, gene diversity, polymorphism information content (PIC), Shannon's information index, observed and expected heterozygosities of the breeds. The results showed that genetic diversity was higher in sheep (P< 0.01 orP< 0.05) than in goat. However, the differential effects in different loci were different. Some extent of inbreeding existed in the two genera (He > Ho, FIS > 0). We also analyzed genetic differentiation, genetic distance and population phylogenic topology structure. The results showed that the genetic divergence time of sheep populations was later than that of goat populations from same ancestors. The genetic distance between the two genera was 1.0708-1.5927. The time difference of genetic divergence was between 19,807 and 28,955 years. The degree of genetic differentiation ( FST < 0.05) and genetic distance (0.2185-0.3396) among sheep breeds were lower than those among goat breeds ( FST > 0.15 and 0.3708-0.9868, respectively). The time of genetic divergence was between 3,972 and 5,725 years of the former, and between 6,743 and 17,940 years of the latter. This paper revealed that artificial selection had a profound effect on the shaping of genetic diversity among domestic animals and their genetic differentiation.

Key words: Ovis aries, Capra hircus, microsatellite loci, polymorphism information content, heterozygosity, genetic distance