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Assessment of structural composition and genetic diversity in the Caspian horse population through microsatellite analysis

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture Engineering, University of Kurdistan, Sanandaj, Iran

2 Department of Biotechnology, Animal science research institute of Iran

3 1. Assistant professor, Animal Science Research Institute of Iran, Agriculture Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO),

4 Department of Animal Science, Safiabad-Dezful

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to investigate the structure and genetic diversity of the Caspian horse population in Iran using short tandem repeats (STR) analysis. Data from 514 Caspian horses were utilized, including information from 17 STR loci. Allelic frequency, observed and expected heterozygosity, allelic richness, heterozygous deficiency in the population (Fis), polymorphic information content, Hardy-Weinberg test, and gene diversity were calculated for all studied STR loci. Additionally, the effective population size (Ne) for the current generation was determined using a single population estimator based on LD information, considering various thresholds to eliminate rare alleles. The results revealed that the observed allelic diversity for STR loci in the Caspian population exceeded previous estimations. Moreover, there has been an increasing trend in homozygosity changes in recent years, likely attributable to increased mating among relatives. The estimated Ne varied between 84.5 (with alleles having a frequency less than 0.05% removed) to 139.6 (without allele removal). These findings indicate that the genetic diversity of this population is not in favorable conditions, and the implementation of conservation programs and controlled crossings are necessary to maintain diversity.

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References
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Research Journal of Livestock Science
Volume 38, Issue 146
June 2025
Pages 43-54
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