GENETIC DIVERSITY OF ARABIAN HORSES USING MICROSATELLITE ‎MARKERS

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Humboldt University of Berlin, Albrecht Daniel Thaer-Institute for Agricultural and Horticultural Sciences, Department of Animal Breeding Biology and Molecular Genetics

2 Cairo University, Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Animal Production

3 Humboldt-University of Berlin, Albrecht Daniel Thaer-Institute for Agricultural and Horticultural Sciences, Department of Animal Breeding Biology and Molecular Genetics

Abstract

The horse strains designation system was shaped in the 7th century in the Arabian Peninsula and spread to the neighboring oriental empires and it is still used. The aim of the present study was to investigate genetic diversity among three Arabian horse strains using twelve equine microsatellite markers. The study included 84 Arabian horses comprising Arabian horses from the major Syrian strains Hamdani, Kahlawi and Saglawi. The studied horses represented five geographical regions in Syria.
To determine genetic population structure within and between the three strains, we applied different methods. The selected panel of microsatellite markers confirmed a general genetic feature of the three main strains of Syrian Arabian horses suggesting low level of population differentiation. To ascertain the results, it will be necessary to collate our findings with the historical pedigrees. Furthermore, we need a genome-wide investigation of microsatellites or an analysis of strain/breed specific SNPs across the Syrian Arabian horse populations for better insight into the genetic diversity.

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