Genetic characterization of Tunisian donkey with DNA microsatellites

M AROUA; B JEMMALI; H OULED AHMED; S KHALDI; S BEN SAID; R BACCOUCHE; M MAHOUACHI

doi:10.56093/ijans.v89i9.93776

Authors

M AROUA PhD Scholar, Carthage University, Carthage 1054, Tunisia
B JEMMALI Associate Professor, Carthage University, Carthage 1054, Tunisia
H OULED AHMED Researcher, Carthage University, Carthage 1054, Tunisia
S KHALDI Researcher, Carthage University, Carthage 1054, Tunisia
S BEN SAID Associate Professor, Carthage University, Carthage 1054, Tunisia
R BACCOUCHE PhD Scholar, Carthage University, Carthage 1054, Tunisia
M MAHOUACHI Director, Carthage University, Carthage 1054, Tunisia

https://doi.org/10.56093/ijans.v89i9.93776

Keywords:

Diversity, Donkey, Genetic, Microsatellites, Tunisia

Abstract

The genetic characterization of Tunisian donkeys with microsatellite markers led to the identification of a total of 214 alleles, with an average of 14.27 alleles per locus. The number of effective alleles per locus (Ne) indicates a rich genetic polymorphism for the used markers. The number of alleles per locus (Na) is higher than Ne,confirming the high genetic diversity in the investigated population. Observed heterozygosis(Ho) for all the studied loci inthe entire population equals 0.744. The FIS index was significantly different from zero, pointing toan excess of heterozygotes. The mean of the number of effective migrants exchanged per generation (Nm) was 3.05 indicating a high level of gene exchange. Genetic distances and the principal coordinate analysis showed three distinct population groups/breeds, with a commongenetic structure for all the individuals. This genetic characterization of the Tunisian donkey population constitutes a valuable basis for further investigations, and to the elaboration of adequate conservation strategies.

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