Microsatellite analysis characterizes Burkina Faso as a genetic contact zone between Sahelian and Djallonke sheep.

A total of 123 sheep belonging to the Djallonke, Mossi, and Burkina-Sahel breeds, along with 41 Spanish Xalda sheep were genotyped for 27 microsatellites. The pair Djallonke-Mossi had the highest between breeds molecular coancestry. Admixture analysis informed on the parental role of the Burkina-Sahel and Djallonke breeds. The Mossi breed was a hybrid population nearer to the Djallonke breed. Only half of the Mossi individuals were correctly assigned to their breed. The Burkina-Sahel and Djallonke breeds can be considered ancestrally different genetic entities. Differentiation between the Djallonke and Mossi breeds may be due to introgression of Sahelian sheep.

Analysis of mitochondrial DNA diversity in Burkina Faso populations confirms the maternal genetic homogeneity of the West African goat.

To date, no comprehensive study has been performed on mitochondrial genetic diversity of the West African goat. Here, we analysed a 481-bp fragment of the HVI region of 111 goats representing four native West African populations, namely the three main Burkina Faso breeds, zoo-farm kept Dwarf goats and endangered Spanish goat breeds used as the outgroup. Analyses gave 83 different haplotypes with 102 variable sites. Most haplotypes (65) were unique. Only three haplotypes were shared between populations. Haplotypes were assigned to cluster A except for H45 (belonging to the Spanish Bermeya goat) which was assigned to cluster C. amova analysis showed that divergence between groups (Phi(CT)) was not statistically significant regardless of whether the partition in two hierarchical levels that was fitted included Spanish samples or not. The West African goat scenario shown here is consistent with that previously reported for the species: haplogroup A is predominant and has a very high haplotype diversity regardless of the geographic area or sampled breed. The large phenotypic differences observable between the West African Dwarf and Sahelian long-legged goat populations are not detectable with mitochondrial markers. Moreover, a previously suggested introgression of Sahelian goat southwards because of desertification could not be assessed using mtDNA information.