Genetic diversity of local moroccan cattle breeds based on microsatellite markers

Preserving the modern diversity of living material on Earth is fundamental to the survival of future generations. A study was conducted to study the genetic diversity of Moroccan local cattle breeds. The number of native cattle in Morocco is about 1.34 million cows. The study of the genetic diversity of Moroccan cattle is one of the urgent tasks in the framework of the program for the conservation and improvement of local breeds. well adapted to the harsh conditions of the country. The aim of the research was to characterize the allele pool and genetic diversity of atlas (ATL) cattle in comparison with the Holstein black-motley breed (Holstein)-the world’s main milk breed, with ten microsatellite markers. Using microsatellite analysis, 99 livestock heads were progenotyped, including 44 heads of ATL and 55 heads of Holstein. Ten microsatellite loci (TGLA227, BM2113, ETH10, SPS115, INRA23, TGLA126, BM1818, ETH225, BM1824 and TGLA122) were selected and are included in the list of microsatellite markers recommended by ISAG. The results show that overall there is a high degree of genetic variation. It was found that the average number of alleles per locus, depending on the microsatellite marker and breed, varied in ATLs ranging from 13 alleles in TGLA227 and TGLA122 to 6 alleles in TGLA126, compared to HFS from 8 in TGLA227 to 5 in BM2113, INRA23, TGLA126 and BM1824, and on average 10 microsatellites amounted to 9.300 ± 0.790 and 5.900 ± 0.314 in ATL and HF, respectively. A 100% level of polymorphism of 10 microsatellite loci in the studied rocks is shown. The number of informative alleles with a frequency of more than 5% (Na) was slightly higher in the ATL4,900 ± 0.422 animal sample compared to the 4,200 ± 0.442 Holstein. The resulting information can be used in dealing with the conservation and sustainable use of genetic resources of the morocco cattle. © 2020 Norezzine et al.