Genetic and phenotypic characterization of the native rabbits in Middle Egypt

Abstract

Aim:Native rabbits in smallholder system are considered as important genetic resources, and the present study was aimed to study the genetic and phenotypic characterization and detection of the maternal origin of the native rabbit populations located at the Middle of Egypt.Materials and Methods:A survey of native rabbit populations was conducted in three governorates (Fayum [FY], Beni Suef [BN], and El Menia [MN]). The phenotypic characterization of rabbits included the profile body of the head, ears, eyes, neck, and legs and the coat colors. The blood samples were collected for genetic characterization based on mitochondrial (cytochrome b) and the microsatellite markers.Results:The phenotypic characterization of the body parts in the three populations was almost similar. The body weight of the mature rabbits in MN Government was significantly heaviest, and the measurements for the main body parts (body length, chest circumference, and abdominal girth) were the highest compared to the two populations. The results of mitochondrial (cytochrome b) analysis revealed that the rabbits from the three governments belonged to lineage A except one animal was recorded as lineage G from MN’s rabbit population. The results of the microsatellite markers revealed that the genetic diversity between the three populations showed genetic interferences; however, a closer genetic relationship was observed between BN and MN than FY. The majority of the genetic diversity was the individual variability.Conclusion:The mitochondrial lineage A is the major lineage in rabbit populations in the area of the Middle Egypt understudy. The genetic populations’ structure is the interferences among the three populations. A large-scale survey should be done on native rabbit populations for the sustainable management and conservation of the local breeds’ genetic resources.

Molecular genetic diversity and conservation priorities of Egyptian rabbit breeds

“…However, the high inbreeding values can be attributed to non-random mating and some loci might be linked to some economically selected traits. Our results were consistent with those of (El-Aksher et al, 2017;Abdel-Kafy et al, 2018), who reported moderate positive values for F IS (0.083 and 0.073 respectively).…”

“…The PIC values in all studied loci ranged from 0.351 at locus SAT2 to 0.846 at locus SOL33 with an average of 0.710. The average PIC value of our study was higher (0.689) than that recorded by Abdel-Kafy et al (2018), who evaluated 8 loci across 3 Egyptian rabbit populations, and lower than (0.760) that recorded by El-Aksher et al (2017), who evaluated 16 microsatellite loci across 4 rabbits populations. The values of our study could suggest their usefulness for genetic diversity studies and linkage mapping programmes in Egyptian rabbits.…”

“…As the resources for conservation of rabbit breeds are limited, prioritisation is often necessary (Marsjan and Oldenbroek, 2007). Microsatellite markers were involved in a few recent studies to assess the genetic diversity within and among Egyptian rabbit populations (Grimal et al, 2012;El-Aksher et al, 2017;Abdel-Kafy et al, 2018). The main objectives of the present study were: first, to investigate the genetic diversity among 3 Egyptian rabbit breeds (BR, BB and G) in addition to NZW rabbits as an out-group breed using a set of 12 microsatellite loci; and second, to set the priorities for conservation of these breeds based on data on genetic diversity assessed using microsatellites…”

Assessment of genetic diversity and differentiation among four indigenous Turkish sheep breeds using microsatellites

“…SSR markers are commonly used to reveal genetic diversity because they are abundant, distributed through genome randomly, easy to access and apply, highly polymorphic, and show codominant inheritance. SSR markers were used to detect genetic diversity or parentage test in different livestock including cattle (Demir and Balcioglu, 2019), sheep (Ocampo et al, 2016), goat (Jawasreh et al, 2018, pigs (Szmatoła et al, 2016), horses (Semik and Zabek, 2013) chickens (Karsli and Balcioglu, 2019), rabbit (Abdel-Kayf et. al., 2016), ducks (Hariyono et al, 2019, and donkeys (Han et al, 2017).…”

Origin, Genetic Diversity, and Population Structure of Rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) in Kenya

“…This study reported what they termed as “directional loss in genetic diversity” from the wild rabbits in the Iberian Peninsula, heterozygosity (He) 0.825 to the domestic rabbits in France heterozygosity (He) 0.581. In another study, [1, 12] utilized microsatellites and mtDNA cytochrome b, respectively, in the study of genetic diversity of the rabbit. The former reported that wild rabbits from France were grouped together with wild rabbits from the Iberian Peninsula, whereas [12] revealed that the rabbits under the study belonged to lineage A, except a single rabbit that belonged to lineage G. Lineage A is the major lineage among wild rabbit populations, while lineage G is rarely reported in the studies on origin of rabbits.…”