Genetic relationships among six Iranian indigenous sheep populations based on microsatellite analysis

Six Iranian indigenous sheep populations: Ghashghaee (GSH), Bakhtiyari (BKH), Kabude Shiraz (KSH), Sanjabi (SAN), Lori (LRI) and Arabi Khuzestan (ARB) were genotyped for 10 microsatellite markers recommended by the MoDAD program [FAO, 1998. Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations Secondary Guidelines for Development of National Farm Animal Genetic Resources Management Plans. Measurement of Domestic Animal Diversity (MoDAD). Recommended Microsatellite Markers]. All population per locus combinations were at Hardy–Weinberg Equilibrium except MAF214 for KSH and BM1824, MAF214 and MCM527 for SAN (P < 0.05). All loci were polymorphic in all populations. There was substantial genetic variability within sheep populations, with average heterozygosity range of 0.747–0.792 based on expected hetrozygosity. The three sheep populations showing the highest level of inbreeding on the basis of heterozygote deficiency. The lowest genetic distance (0.166) was obtained between LRI and BKH and the highest genetic distance (0.378) between SAN and GSH. The phylogenetic tree based on unbiased distances was drawn using UPGMA. To study the genetic relationships among sheep populations, a principal coordinate analysis (PCA) based on Nei standard distances was performed.