Genomic diversity and population structure of the indigenous Greek and Cypriot cattle populations.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The indigenous cattle populations from Greece and Cyprus have decreased to small numbers and are currently at risk of extinction due to socio-economic reasons, geographic isolation and crossbreeding with commercial breeds. This study represents the first comprehensive genome-wide analysis of 10 indigenous cattle populations from continental Greece and the Greek islands, and one from Cyprus, and compares them with 104 international breeds using more than 46,000 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs).

Results

We estimated several parameters of genetic diversity (e.g. heterozygosity and allelic diversity) that indicated a severe loss of genetic diversity for the island populations compared to the mainland populations, which is mainly due to the declining size of thei

SUBMITTER: Papachristou D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7391618 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature