Authors : X. Yu, X.X. Huang, W.J. Liu, Y. Fang, L. Shi, W.T. Xing, C.W. Tang and M.A. Brown
Abstract: The genetic variability and genetic relationship of the fifteen sheep breeds were studied. The genotypes of 14 indigenous Chinese sheep breeds and one crossbreed of wild sheep were investigated using 13 microsatellite DNA markers recommended by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the International Society of Animal Genetics (ISAG) through PCR. The allele frequency, heterozygosity and Genetic Differentiation Index (Fst) were computed to estimate the genetic variation of each population. To determine the genetic relationships among the breeds, phylogenetic trees were constructed based on Nei’s genetic distance using the unweighted pair-group method with arithmetic mean and neighbor-joining method. A total of 15 breeds were clustered into three groups. The first group included Altay sheep and Duolang sheep, the second group was very large and complicated, the third group was a Kazark sheep. The thirteen microsatellite loci were effective markers for the analysis of genetic relationship among sheep breeds. In addition, genetic distance among groups is not according with their geographic distribution and groups or breeds with low production performance can easily impacted by breeds with better production performance. As for the results, it may be result from applying on artificial insemination and extension of commercial cross breeding technique in sheep production system recent years in China.
X. Yu, X.X. Huang, W.J. Liu, Y. Fang, L. Shi, W.T. Xing, C.W. Tang and M.A. Brown, 2011. Analysis of Genetic Diversity on 15 Sheep Breeds in Xinjiang of China. Journal of Animal and Veterinary Advances, 10: 144-150.