Agraarteadus (Jun 2015)
The results of a survey on the genetic diversity of Estonian dairy cattle breeds
Abstract
The Estonian dairy cattle breeds: Estonian Holstein, Estonian Red and Estonian Native, have been characterized using different types of genetic markers in order to measure genetic diversity within and between the breeds. In addition to the routine markers commonly used in the genotyping of cattle in Estonia, ISAG/FAO recommended markers were also included and therefore the data could be used to compare Estonian cattle populations in a wider context, and exploring their current status and uniqueness in the European context. The results showed that the Estonian dairy cattle breeds are genetically variable and the level of variation within the Estonian Red, Estonian Native and Estonian Holstein breeds is relatively similar. It can be concluded that inbreeding, causing loss of heterozygosity in a small population, was not found to be at a high level in these breeds. The within-breed diversity estimates, based on the DNA microsatellite data, were at the same level as those reported for other modern dairy breeds. It was demonstrated, by constructing a tree and net-work based on genetic relationships between the Baltic and Nordic cattle breeds, that the Estonian dairy cattle breeds are distinct from each other, and fall into different genetic clusters – the Estonian Holstein is in the Black-and-White breed group, the Estonian Red is in the European/Baltic Red group, and the Estonian Native Cattle is in the group of wider Nordic breeds, clustering closely with Western Finncattle.
