Unravelling of the genetic diversity, population structure, and phylogenetic relationships of the indigenous horse breeds of Pakistan.
Abstract: The current study aimed to evaluate the genetic diversity, level of admixture, and phylogenetic relationship, of the Pakistani horse breeds, along with their morphological characterization. Data for the body measurements showed that Morna horses had the highest values of body height, body length, chest girth, leg length, and head length, whereas the Baluchi horses had the lowest values for these traits. For the genetic diversity 64 animals, 15/breed except for Baluchi(14) and Topras(05), were genotyped by using the 17-plex equine genotyping kit. The AMOVA results showed that 13% of genetic diversity was explained by breed differences, whereas 27% and 60% came from among and within individuals respectively. The highest values of genetic diversity parameters including Na(7.29±0.29), Ne(5.73±0.28), Ho(0.74±0.05) and He(0.82±0.01) were observed for Morna, whereas their lowest values were found for Topras. However, the highest value of inbreeding coefficient (Fis) was found for Baluchi and the lowest for KB horses. Among the markers, CA425 was found as the most polymorphic and ASB23 as the least polymorphic and highly fixed marker. Results of structure analysis revealed that, except Topras, each local horse breed had very admixed genetic structure perhaps due to their continuous crossing with other breeds in the past. Moreover, the structure analysis also showed that Morna and Shiean breeds had mixing of each other which was also confirmed by the lowest value of their pairwise Fst values and likewise the phylogenetic analysis also showed their close genetic relationship with each other. The phylogenetic analysis also revealed that Shiean breed had close genetic relationship with Arabian horses. Collectively, our data showed that Morna is the largest and genetically most diverse horse breed of Pakistan, whereas Baluchi horses are the smallest in size and have the highest values of inbreeding coefficient. And the phylogeny analysis showed that Shiean breed had close genetic relationship with the Arabian.
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Publication Date: 2023-09-13 PubMed ID: 37714277DOI: 10.1016/j.gene.2023.147736Google Scholar: Lookup
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Summary
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This paper explores the genetic diversity, population structure, and phylogenetic relationships of the indigenous horse breeds in Pakistan. Based on physical characteristics and genetic tests, the study discovered a degree of interbreeding among the breeds, and noted that the Morna breed was the largest and most genetically diverse, while the Baluchi breed was the smallest and had the highest levels of inbreeding.
Methodology
- The researchers began by taking body measurements of different horse breeds to distinguish specific physical traits.
- Sixty-four animals, spanning several breeds, were genotyped using a 17-plex equine genotyping kit, which provided more insight on genetic diversity among the breeds.
Genetic Diversity
- The Analysis of Molecular Variance (AMOVA) results showed that 13% of the genetic diversity was influenced by breed differences, while the majority of the diversity resulted from individual differences (60%) and differences among individuals within breeds (27%).
- The Morna breed exhibited the highest level of genetic diversity, whereas the Topras breed had the lowest level of diversity.
- On the other end of the spectrum, the Baluchi breed had the highest level of inbreeding – an indication of a higher proportion of related individuals within this breed.
Admixture and Phylogenetic Relationships
- The study found that most local horse breeds had an admixed genetic structure, suggesting a history of continuous crossbreeding.
- Specifically, the Morna and Shiean breeds showed signs of genetic intermixing, confirmed through analysis of pairwise Fst values and phylogenetic assessment.
- The phylogenetic analysis also revealed a close genetic relationship between the Shiean breed and Arabian horses.
In conclusion, the study suggests that while there are clear differences among the Pakistani horse breeds in terms of size and physical traits, there is also substantial interbreeding. The findings offer a deeper understanding of the genetic diversity within and among the indigenous horse breeds in Pakistan, opening the door for further study and potential improvement in breeding programs.
Cite This Article
APA
Sohail Ashraf M, Basheer A, Iqbal F, Zahoor I.
(2023).
Unravelling of the genetic diversity, population structure, and phylogenetic relationships of the indigenous horse breeds of Pakistan.
Gene, 889, 147736.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gene.2023.147736 Publication
Researcher Affiliations
- Genetics and Genomics Laboratory, Department of Animal Breeding and Genetics, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Pattoki, Pakistan.
- Genetics and Genomics Laboratory, Department of Animal Breeding and Genetics, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Pattoki, Pakistan.
- Centre for Applied Molecular Biology, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan.
- Genetics and Genomics Laboratory, Department of Animal Breeding and Genetics, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Pattoki, Pakistan. Electronic address: imran.zahoor@uvas.edu.pk.
Conflict of Interest Statement
Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
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