Preliminary results on genetic diversity in egyptian cattle using microsatellite markers

Abstract EN

To study the genetic diversity of the Egyptian native cattle, a total of 67 cattle representing five populations were genotyped for 4 microsatellite markers (ETH225, ETH152, HEL09 and INRA05).

The numbers of observed alleles all over the populations studied were: 12, 8, 12 and 4 respectively.

Heterozygosity and Wrights F-statistics (FIS, FST, and FIT) were calculated to determine the genetic variation in these populations.

High values of observed heterozygosities were noticed in all the populations, it were in the range of 0.719 (Beni Souif) for the marker INRA05 to (0.933 Beni Souif) for the marker ETH 225.

All the FIS values were below the zero, meaning the absence of inbreeding within the populations under study.

Depending on the genetic distances a dendrogram showing the genetic relationship among the different populations was prepared.

High values of the average gene diversity were noticed, for all the markers and all the populations, it ranged from 0.765 to 0.866 with an overall mean 0.833.

Values of gene flow or migration between populations were high meaning that migration and admixture could have taken place between these populations.

The study proved that Egyptian cattle are only one breed with different populations.