Assessment and genetic characterisation of Australian camels using microsatellite polymorphisms

Camels are substantial providers of transport, milk, sport, meat, shelter, fuel, security and capital in many countries. In Australia there are estimated to be over a million individuals, and growing at more than 80,000 per year. Australian dromedary camels may therefore represent a considerable res...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Livestock science 2010-04, Vol.129 (1), p.241-245
Main Authors: Spencer, P.B.S., Woolnough, A.P.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
alleles
animal genetic resources
breeds
Camel ( Camelus dromedaries)
dromedaries
Dromedary
feral animals
founder effect
Genetic diversity
genetic markers
genetic polymorphism
genetic variation
microsatellite repeats
Microsatellites
molecular sequence data
New world camel
population genetics
population structure
Stock management
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Summary:Camels are substantial providers of transport, milk, sport, meat, shelter, fuel, security and capital in many countries. In Australia there are estimated to be over a million individuals, and growing at more than 80,000 per year. Australian dromedary camels may therefore represent a considerable resource for the world's camel production herd. Here we document the structure and assess the genetic diversity over a very large sampling area (> 3 million km 2). Using a total of 484 reproductive individuals belonging to six sampling locations of dromedary camel ( Camelus dromedaries) we analysed 28 microsatellite markers to assess polymorphism in the Australian herd. Eighteen of these markers were polymorphic, producing a total of 185 alleles. Unlike camel breeds from elsewhere in the world, the classification of Australian camels into distinguishable breeds was not supported by the program STRUCTURE at the microsatellite level. Australian camels also showed very weak levels of sampling structure (and genetic diversity) suggesting a small historical founder size.
ISSN:1871-1413
1878-0490
DOI:10.1016/j.livsci.2010.01.006