Ecology and population structure of some indigenous geese breeds and the impact of four GH and Pit-1 SNPs on their body weights.

This study aims to determine the genetic correlation using nine microsatellite markers to reconstruct the history of some indigenous geese populations, along with the use of four single nucleotides polymorphisms (SNPs) to investigate their correlation with the geese body weight. Microsatellite markers are mainly used to provide updated information on changes in the population structure of geese breeds. The eight goose populations reported 24% private alleles specific for each population. Expected heterozygosity (He) ranged from 0.46 to 0.70. Three breeds were reported highly polymorphic. Inbreeding coefficient (Fis) revealed that three breeds were in a minimum level of extinction danger, while one breed was in a potential endangered situation. Phylogenetic tree, principal component analysis (PCA), and self-organizing map (SOM) were constructed using MATLAB to study the population distribution and relationship among these breeds. Four SNPs were detected, two SNPs at GH gene exon (C123T and C158T), and two SNPs at Pit-1 gene exons (G161A and T282G). Four SNP loci were reported to have a significant effect on geese body weight. They were CT genotype for C123T locus, TT genotype for C158T locus, GG genotype for G161A locus, and GG genotype for T282G locus.

Genetic diversity analysis of fourteen geese breeds based on str genotyping technique.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to measure genetic diversity and to determine the relationships among fourteen goose breeds. METHODS: microsatellite markers were isolated from the genomic DNA of geese based on previous literature. The DNA segments, including short tandem repeats, were tested for their diversity among fourteen populations of geese. The diversity was tested on both breeds and loci level and by mean of unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean (UPGMA) and structure program, phylogenetic tree and population structure were tested. RESULTS: A total of 108 distinct alleles (1%) were observed across the fourteen breeds, with 36 out of the 108 alleles (33.2%) being unique to only one breed. Genetic parameters were measured per the 14 breeds and the 9 loci. Medium to high heterozygosity was reported with high effective numbers of alleles (Ne). Polymorphic Information Contents (PIC) of the screened loci was found to be highly polymorphic for eleven breeds; while 3 breeds were reported moderately polymorphic. Breeding coefficient (FIS) ranged from -0.033 to 0.358, and the pair wise genetic differentiation (FST) ranged from 0.01 to 0.36 across the fourteen breeds; for the 9 loci Ho, He and Ne were same as the breeds parameters, PIC of the screened loci reported 6 loci highly polymorphic and 3 loci to be medium polymorphic, and FIS ranged from -0.113 to 0.368. In addition, genetic distance estimate revealed a close genetic distance between Can. and Hort. breeds by 0.04, and the highest distance was between Tai. and Gray. breed by 0.54. CONCLUSION: Cluster analyses were made, and they revealed that goose breeds had hybridized frequently, resulting in a loss of genetic distinctiveness for some breeds.