Microsatellite analysis for parentage testing of the Arabian horse breed from Syria

Authors: ANAS MAHMOUD KHANSHOUR, ELEANORE KATHLEEN CONANT, RYTIS JURAS, ERNEST GUS COTHRAN

Abstract: Parentage testing is very important for genetically determining the accuracy of the pedigree of domestic animals. The Arabian horse population in Syria might be expected to have a high level of homozygosity because the traditional method of breeding results in such a small population. For this reason, using a set of highly polymorphic markers such as microsatellites is required for parentage testing. The purpose of this study was to analyze the usefulness of 16 STR markers for routine parentage testing in 94 samples from registered and nonregistered horses collected from Syria. The mean number of alleles was 5.69 per locus in the registered group and 7.69 in the nonregistered group. The nonregistered group had a mean polymorphic information content (PIC) of 0.715, which was significantly higher than the PIC in the registered group. The individual probability of exclusion per locus ranged from 32% for HTG7 to 80% for ASB17 in the registered group and 41% for HTG7 to 84% for ASB17 in the nonregistered group. The results of this study indicate no serious loss of heterozygosity and confirm that 13 STR markers can be used in parentage testing with high efficiency for the Arabian horses from Syria.

Keywords: Arabian horse, parentage testing, microsatellite, Syrian horse population

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