Genetic variation and relationships among Turkish water buffalo populations

Abstract

The genetic variation and relationships among six Turkish water buffalo populations,typical of different regions was assessed using a set of twenty-six heterologous (bovine) microsatellite markers. Between 7 and 17 different alleles were identified per microsatellite in a total of 254 alleles. The average number of alleles across all loci in all the analyzed populations was found to be 12.57. The expected mean heterozygosity (HE) per population was between 0.5 and 0.58. Significant departures from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium were observed for 44 locus-population combinations. Population differentiation was analyzed by estimation of the FST index (values ranging from 0.053 to 0.123) among populations. In the PCA analysis the Merzifon population showed the highest differentiation compared to the others. Also some individuals of the Danamandira population appeared clearly separated. Instead Afyon, Coskun, Pazar and Thural populations represented one single cluster. The assignment of individuals to their source populations, performed using the Bayesian clustering approach implemented in STRUCTURE 2.2 software, has evidenced a high differentiation of Merzifon and Danamandira populations as well. The results of this study could be useful for the development of conservation strategies of the Turkish buffalo.