Genetic diversity of Halla horses using microsatellite markers

Joo-Hee Seo; Kyung-Do Park; Hak-Kyo Lee; Hong-Sik Kong

doi:10.1186/s40781-016-0120-6

Genetic diversity of Halla horses using microsatellite markers

J Anim Sci Technol. 2016 Nov 17:58:40. doi: 10.1186/s40781-016-0120-6. eCollection 2016.

Authors

Joo-Hee Seo¹, Kyung-Do Park², Hak-Kyo Lee², Hong-Sik Kong¹

Affiliations

¹ Genomic Informatics Center, Hankyong National University, Anseong, 17579 Korea ; Department of Genomic Informatics, Graduate School of Future Convergence Technology, Hankyong National University, Anseong, 456-749 Korea.
² ChonBuk National University, Jeonju, 54896 Korea.

Abstract

Background: Currently about 26,000 horses are breeding in Korea and 57.2% (14,776 horses) of them are breeding in Jeju island. According to the statistics published in 2010, the horses breeding in Jeju island are subdivided into Jeju horse (6.1%), Thoroughbred (18.8%) and Halla horse (75.1%). Halla horses are defined as a crossbreed between Jeju and Thoroughbred horses and are used for horse racing, horse riding and horse meat production. However, little research has been conducted on Halla horses because of the perception of crossbreed and people's weighted interest toward Jeju horses.

Method: Using 17 Microsatellite (MS) Markers recommended by International Society for Animal Genetics (ISAG), genomic DNAs were extracted from the hair roots of 3,880 Halla horses breeding in Korea and genetic diversity was identified by genotyping after PCR was performed.

Results and conclusion: In average, 10.41 alleles (from 6 alleles in HTG7 to 17 alleles in ASB17) were identified after the analysis using 17 MS Markers. The mean value of H_obs was 0.749 with a range from 0.612(HMS1) to 0.857(ASB2). Also, it was found that H_exp and PIC values were lowest in HMS1 (0.607 and 0.548, respectively), and highest in LEX3(0.859 and 0.843, respectively), and the mean value of H_exp was 0.760 and that of PIC was 0.728. 17 MS markers used in this studies were considered as appropriate markers for the polymorphism analysis of Halla horses. The frequency for the appearance of identical individuals was 5.90 × 10^-20 when assumed as random mating population and when assumed as half-sib and full-sib population, frequencies were 4.08 × 10^-15 and 3.56 × 10^-8, respectively. Based on these results, the 17 MS markers can be used adequately for the Individual Identification and Parentage Verification of Halla horses. Remarkably, allele M and Q of ASB23 marker, G of HMS2 marker, H and L of HTG6 marker, L of HTG7 marker, E of LEX3 marker were the specific alleles unique to Halla horses.

Keywords: Allele frequency; Halla Horse; Microsatellite marker; Polymorphism.