Microsatellite and mitochondrial DNA markers unveil the genetic structure of Nellore Palla sheep of India

• Published in: Small ruminant research 2022-11, Vol.216, p.106815, Article 106815
• Main Authors: Reddy, Jaya Madhuri Bhumi, Krovvidi, Sudhakar, Metta, Muralidhar, Seshaiah Ch, Venkata, Regula, Vinoo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Genetic divergence; Microsatellite markers; Mitochondrial control region; Nellore Palla sheep; Phylogeny; Population Genetic Structure
• ISSN: 0921-4488
• DOI: 10.1016/j.smallrumres.2022.106815

The present study is carried out to genetically characterise the Nellore Palla sheep and document the genetic divergence among the three varieties of the Nellore sheep breed. Thirty two unrelated individuals from the hometract of Palla, nine each of Brown and Jodipi were sampled for the molecular studies. Fluorscent microsatellite markers were employed to genetically characterise Palla population.The analysis revealed a total of 201 alleles across the 26 loci studied. The mean observed and effective number of alleles per locus was 7.73 and 5.82 respectively. The overall observed and expected heterozygosity across 26 loci was 0.52 and 0.69 respectively. The mean FIS value in the sampled population was 0.24 with a range varying between − 0.24 (MAF209) to 0.77 (INRA063). The mean PIC value and the Shannon’s index value across the 26 loci was 0.643 and 1.49 respectively. The study concluded a considerable amount of genetic diversity with in the Nellore Palla population. The genetic divergence among the three varieties was analysed using 728 bp mitochondrial control region. The analysis for polymorphism and divergence was done with DnaSP software and the results concluded a high polymorphism within the genetic groups. The genetic differentiation estimates revealed no genetic differentiation among the three varieties of Nellore sheep breed. The phylogenetic analysis indicated that all the haplotypes of the three varieties of Nellore were clustering with lineage A except for one haplotype of Palla variety which was clustering with lineage B. •Nellore sheep, the tallest breed of India has three phenotypically distinct varieties viz. Palla, Jodipi and Brown.•Abundant genetic diversity is observed in Palla sheep with microsatellite markers recommended by FAO.•No episodes of bottleneck in the Nellore Palla population was observed.•mtDNA analyses revealed high haplotype diveristy in all the three varieties.•The overall genetic differentiation measures indicated no genetic differentiation between the genetic groups.