Genetic Variation of Lac Ghashghaei sheep breed in the Kuhgiloyeh and Boyer Ahmad province using microsatellite markers

The determination of genetic variability is a prerequisite for any breeding program towards the improvement of livestock productivity and a successful breeding strategy depend on amount of genetic variation in the population. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the genetic diversity of Lac Ghashghaei sheep breed in the Kuhgiloyeh and Boyer Ahmad province using microsatellite markers.
In this study, the genetic variation of Lac Ghashghaei sheep was studied using 10 microsatellite markers. Then, allele diversity, PIC, HE, HO, Shannon index and Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium were calculated using Genalex and PowerMarker softwares.
A total of 88 alleles were found in 10 loci that highest and lowest allele numbers were for TGLA53 and ETH10, respectively. The highest value of Shannon index related to TGLA53 marker with highest allele number and lowest value of Shannon index was for ETH10 marker with lowest allele number. In addition, the average value of Shannon index was also high (1.829) for this population. The mean observed heterozygosity was more than expected ones for all loci. The average value of polymorphism information content (PIC) value for all loci in analyzed population was 0.76 for 10 microsatellites. Test of genotype frequencies for deviation from the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (HWE) at each locus, revealed a significant departure from HWE all loci (p In general, the results of estimated parameters for genetic variation revealed that the population of Lac Ghashghaei sheep breed in this study contains high genetic variation. However, in order to maintain the genetic diversity of each breed, breeding strategies should be implemented within each herd.