Genetic Structure of Chinese Indigenous Goats and the Special Geographical Structure in the Southwest China as a Geographic Barrier Driving the Fragmentation of a Large Population

Abstract

BackgroundChina has numerous native domestic goat breeds, however, extensive studies are focused on the genetic diversity within the fewer breeds and limited regions, the population demograogic history and origin of Chinese goats are still unclear. The roles of geographical structure have not been analyzed in Chinese goat domestic process. In this study, the genetic relationships of Chinese indigenous goat populations were evaluated using 30 microsatellite markers.Methodology/Principal FindingsForty Chinese indigenous populations containing 2078 goats were sampled from different geographic regions of China. Moderate genetic diversity at the population level (HS of 0.644) and high population diversity at the species level (HT value of 0.737) were estimated. Significant moderate population differentiation was detected (FST value of 0.129). Significant excess homozygosity (FIS of 0.105) and recent population bottlenecks were detected in thirty-six populations. Neighbour-joining tree, principal components analysis and Bayesian clusters all revealed that Chinese goat populations could be subdivided into at least four genetic clusters: Southwest China, South China, Northwest China and East China. It was observed that the genetic diversity of Northern China goats was highest among these clusters. The results here suggested that the goat populations in Southwest China might be the earliest domestic goats in China.Conclusions/SignificanceOur results suggested that the current genetic structure of Chinese goats were resulted from the special geographical structure, especially in the Western China, and the Western goat populations had been separated by the geographic structure (Hengduan Mountains and Qinling Mountains-Huaihe River Line) into two clusters: the Southwest and Northwest. It also indicated that the current genetic structure was caused by the geographical origin mainly, in close accordance with the human’s migration history throughout China. This study provides a fundamental genetic profile for the conservation of these populations and better to understand the domestication process and origin of Chinese goats.

Genetic Diversity of Eight Domestic Goat Populations Raised in Turkey

“…Mitochondrial DNA analysis of local Chinese goat populations [35] revealed that they formed 4 haplogroups and the results were consistent with archeological and genetic studies. In addition, genetic characterization studies, which were performed using 30 microsatellites [36] reported that the populations, which were raised in northwest and southwest as two sets in accordance with their geographical regions, heaped up within themselves.…”

Genetic diversity of the Chinese goat in the littoral zone of the Yangtze River as assessed by microsatellite and mtDNA

“…The genetic diversity of several types of Chinese goats has also been reported, including the Chinese dairy goat (Wang et al, 2015), goats indigenous to southwest China (Wei et al, 2014;Zhao et al, 2014), the black goat (Miao et al, 2015;Zhong et al, 2013), and the cashmere goat (Di et al, 2011;Liu et al, 2013).…”

Genetic diversity estimation of Yunnan indigenous goat breeds using microsatellite markers

“…Moreover, Wei et al (2014) China (Yuan, Cheng, & Zhou, 2012 increasing evidence has supported a common genetic pattern in domestic animals (Jin et al, 2012;Lai, Chen, Liu, & Yao, 2007;Liu et al, 2006;Wu et al, 2007) due to the restricted gene flow of livestock between goats as a result of the Hengduan Mountains (Wei et al, 2014). F I G U R E 1 Population average pairwise differences among the seven goat populations.…”