Population genetic structure evaluations of the Iranian horse breeds by SSR and SNP markers

Background and Aim: The population genetic structure of Iranian horse breeds as primeval population in the globe has yet to be comprehensively studied, and the ancestral origins of Caspian, Iranian Arab, Kurdish, Turkmen and Dareshouri remain in query. The aim of this study was to investigate the genetic structure of Iranian native horses breeds by using ISAG suggested microsatellite markers for comparing genetic diversity and understanding the their relationships.Methods: In the present study by ۱۱ ISAG microsatellite (STR) and ۶۵k SNP markers the population structure and ancestral origins was studied. For this purpose, ۵۶۵ STR result (۱۱۳ for each breed) and ۱۶۷ SNP marker results were applied.Results: Based on STR markers the total number of observed alleles was ۱۱۹ alleles, and the average number of alleles was also ۱۰.۸۱۸ alleles. Turkmen and Iranian Arab horse breed has highest (۰.۶۸۱) and lowest heterozygosity (۰.۶۲۴) respectively. Phylogenetic analyses showed that Caspian and Kurdish horse breeds have more genetic similarity and were placed into a single cluster and other breeds were placed in separate genetic cluster. We compared clustering and demographic differentiation of SNP with STR genotype and the results of both methods coincided. In general, the results of this study indicate that the genetic clustering of the populations is consistent with their geographic distances.Conclusion: These results confirm the assumption that the Kurdish and Caspian horses are close to Nisa horses, their ancestors.

کلیدواژه ها:

Genetic structure ، Iranian Horse Breed ، STR Markers ، SNP