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Study of Genetic Diversity and Population Structure of the Yak (Bos grunniens) in the Sayan-Altai Region

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Abstract

The paper reports the first study of genetic diversity of the domestic yak in the Sayan-Altai region of Russia (Altai and Tuva) and Mongolia (Khuvsgul and Gobi) on the basis of the polymorphism analysis of the mtDNA D-loop hypervariable region. It has been demonstrated that, among all the studied populations, Tuva yaks are characterized by the highest haplotype diversity. Four new haplotypes, A4, A13, D9, and E3, have been described for the first time. The analysis of the contribution of maternal genetic component to the yak intrabreed and interbreed mtDNA diversity revealed two large clades. For the first time, comparative analysis of genetic structure of the Russian yak populations was carried out using 15 microsatellite loci. Low genetic difference between the populations was revealed, which may apparently be accounted for by the specific features of farm breeding, in particular, by animal exchange between the adjacent territories of the Sayan-Altai region.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We are grateful to A.A. Dolaan (Ministry of Agriculture and Food Supply of the Tuva Republic) for information support and to the breeding farms for providing samples analyzed in this study.

This work was supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research “Genetic Diversity of Local Breeds of Domesticated Animal Species of the Russian Federation and Mongolia” (grant no. 16-54-44060 Mong_a), the programs of the Russian Academy of Sciences Population Genetic Bases for the Conservation and Management of Domesticated Animal Gene Pools (no. 0112-2015-0015) and Biodiversity of Natural Systems (no. 0324-2015-0012), and the national program Study of the Agricultural Animal Gene Pools (no. 0112-2018-0002).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Vavilov Institute of General Genetics, Russian Academy of Sciences, 119991, Moscow, Russia

    N. Yu. Oyun, E. A. Konorov, I. V. Artyushin, G. R. Svishcheva & Yu. A. Stolpovsky

  2. Lomonosov Moscow State University, 119234, Moscow, Russia

    N. Yu. Oyun, E. A. Konorov & I. V. Artyushin

  3. Martsinovsky Institute of Medical Parasitology, Tropical, and Vector-Borne Diseases, Sechenov University, 119435, Moscow, Russia

    N. Yu. Oyun

  4. Federal Research and Clinical Center for Physical and Chemical Medicine, Federal Medical and Biological Agency, 119435, Moscow, Russia

    A. V. Urum

  5. Federal Research Center Institute of Cytology and Genetics, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, 630090, Novosibirsk, Russia

    G. R. Svishcheva

  6. Institute of Biology, Mongolian Academy of Sciences, 210620, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

    C. Cendsuren

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  1. N. Yu. Oyun
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Correspondence to N. Yu. Oyun.

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Translated by E. Martynova

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Oyun, N.Y., Konorov, E.A., Urum, A.V. et al. Study of Genetic Diversity and Population Structure of the Yak (Bos grunniens) in the Sayan-Altai Region. Russ J Genet 54, 1210–1220 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1022795418100125

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