Genetic diversity of selected genes that are potentially economically important in feral sheep of New Zealand
Citations
Altmetric:
Date
2010
Type
Journal Article
Collections
Fields of Research
Abstract
Background: Feral sheep are considered to be a source of genetic variation that has been lost from their
domestic counterparts through selection.
Methods: This study investigates variation in the genes KRTAP1-1, KRT33, ADRB3 and DQA2 in Merino-like feral
sheep populations from New Zealand and its offshore islands. These genes have previously been shown to
influence wool, lamb survival and animal health.
Results: All the genes were polymorphic, but no new allele was identified in the feral populations. In some of
these populations, allele frequencies differed from those observed in commercial Merino sheep and other breeds
found in New Zealand. Heterozygosity levels were comparable to those observed in other studies on feral sheep.
Our results suggest that some of the feral populations may have been either inbred or outbred over the duration
of their apparent isolation.
Conclusion: The variation described here allows us to draw some conclusions about the likely genetic origin of
the populations and selective pressures that may have acted upon them, but they do not appear to be a source of
new genetic material, at least for these four genes.
Permalink
Source DOI
Rights
© 2010 McKenzie et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative
Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and
reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Creative Commons Rights
Attribution