Breeding systematization of indigenous breed Medjimurje horse

Medjimurje horse is critically endangered breed (Ne = 14.17) and is one of three Croatian indigenous horse breeds. The aim of this research is to systematize the Medjimurje horse breeding, defining stallion and mare lines, and analyzing the prevalence of other breeds in Medjimurje breeding horses. The result of systematization is defining 7 stallion lines and 37 mare lines which are the basis for breeding in the future. By analyzing the pedigree, we established higher rate of other breeds in Medjimurje breeding horses, and the fact that the breeding hasn’t been done pure blooded, which is necessary given that it is the indigenous breed since the year 1999, after founding the breeds registry. A large proportion of other horse breeds in the Medjimurje horse registry leads to the conclusion that it is not an indigenous horse breed, but the type of cold-blooded horse, so the status of current population "authenticity" is doubtful.

Genetic diversity of the Hungarian draft horse assessed by mitochondrial DNA

Hungarian draft is a horse breed with a recent mixed ancestry. It was developed in the 1920s by crossing local mares with draught horses imported from France and Belgium. To genetically characterize the breed and to set up the basis for a conservation programme, we have employed a molecular marker: a 256-bp D-loop mitochondrial DNA fragment. We analyzed 124 horses representing Hungarian draft horses to assess the maternal phylogeography of the breed. Sequence analysis of a 256-bp segment revealed a total of 34 haplotypes with thirty-four polymorphic sites. High haplotype and nucleotide diversity values (Hd=0.953±0.001; π=0.024±0.001) were detected. The average number of pairwise differences were k=5.998. This breed counts 800 mares today, and only survive due to breeding programmes, this way each haplotype frequency depends on the extent to which mares are involved into the breeding. The reduced number of surviving maternal lineages emphasizes the importance of establishing a conservation plan for this endangered breed. Due to the revealed 34 polymorphic sites we could presuppose twelve maternal linages, which could be a first step for making a breeding programme.

DIVERSITAS GENETIK DAN HAPLOGROUP KAMBING GEMBRONG BERSTATUS KRITIS DI KABUPATEN KARANGASEM, BALI (Genetic Diversity and Haplogroup of Endangered Gembrong Goat In Karangasem, Bali)

This study was conducted to evaluate the genetic diversity and phylogeny of Gembrong goat. For this purpose, 21 goats from endangered breed in Karangasem Bali were used. Molecular analysis of genetic diversity and phylogeography used hypervariable segment 1 of mitochondrial DNA control region. The result showed that genetic variability of Gembrong goat was homogeneous with only one different sites, namely the substitution pyrimidines of C ↔ T (transitional). Phylogeny analysis results showed maternal origin of Gembrong goat is lineage (subhaplogroup) B1 with frequency of 100%. Haplogroup B were known has been domesticated from wild goat in western Asia, then headed to south Asia and infiltrated to southeast Asia, including Gembrong goat in Bali, Indonesia. As a conclusion, genetic diversity of Gembrong goat from remaining population in Karangasem very low and originate from lineages/haplogroup B1 with a frequency of 100%.

Mitochondrial D-loop sequence variation among autochthonous horse breeds in Croatia

Genetic variation in three Croatian coldblood horse populations was analysed using a sequence analysis of the proximal part (nt 15 498–15 821) of the D-loop region of mtDNA. Twenty unrelated horses were chosen from the Posavina horse and the Croatian Coldblood breeds and fifteen horses from the Murinsulaner horse population. Sequencing of the proximal part of the mtDNA D-loop region revealed 26 polymorphic sites representing thirty haplotypes which were clustered into eight haplogroups. A wide variety of mitochondrial haplotypes of the analysed horse breeds were clustered into eight different haplogroups. Two haplogroups (D and F) were specific to Posavina horse, five haplogroups were shared among the Croatian Coldblood and Murinsulaner horse, the fact that can be explained by selection strategy at the beginning of the 20^th century and possible gene flow between the two populations. These results indicate the presence of many ancient maternal lineages with high diversity in mtDNA. The genetic information based on mtDNA typing has a great importance for the future breed conservation strategy, especially for the critically endangered breed such as Murinsulaner horse.