ISSN 2736-1756
Advanced Journal of Microbiology Research ISSN 2736-1756 Vol. 18 (7), pp. 001-005, July, 2024. Available online at www.internationalscholarsjournals.org © International Scholars Journals
Full Length Research Paper
Assessing Genetic Relationships and Population Differentiation in Karakul Sheep Using Microsatellite Markers
Shahram Nanekarani1*, Cyrus Amirinia2 and Nour Amirmozafari3
1Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Broujerd Branch, Islamic Azad University, Broujerd, Iran.
2Department of Animal Biotechnology, Animal Science Research Institute of Iran, Karaj, Iran.
3Department of Molecular Biology, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Accepted 22 March, 2024
Abstract
In this study, the genetic variation in Karakul sheep was investigated using 15 microsatellite markers (MCMA2, BMS460, BM1815, OARCP26, OARFCB20, MAF64, OARAE129, BMS332, LSCV38, BM6444, BMS995, MCMA26, BMS678 and OARCP49) and all fifteen loci were amplified successfully. Genomic DNA was extracted from 120 blood samples, using modified salting-out method. Tests of genotype frequencies for deviation from the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (HWE) were performed at each locus and revealed significant departure from HWE (P < 0.001) due to heterozygote excess. Parameters of variability such as effective number of alleles and gene diversities corroborated with the high level of variation frequently displayed by microsatellite markers. The fifteen tested loci were all polymorphic. Furthermore, other criteria of genetic variation including polymorphism information content (PIC) values and Shanon information index were calculated in this study. Results showed that, high level of genetic diversity was observed in Karakul breed and this breed was not at risk for conservation concept. This research has also shown that microsatellite technique is a useful tool for evaluation of genetic variation among domesticated animals.
Key words: Karakul sheep, microsatellite markers, genetic variation, polymorphism. Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (HWE).