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Morphological and Genetic Characteristics of Yakut Horse Breeds

  • ANIMAL HUSBANDRY
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Russian Agricultural Sciences Aims and scope

Abstract

Farming horses of indigenous breeds adapted to extreme natural environments is the only effective way to use the vast areas of lands unsuitable for farming animals of the other species. Horse farming is a traditional industry in the Sakha Republic (Yakutia) that remains a substantial potential for meat production improvement. Under extreme environmental conditions, genetic variations caused by mutations and evolution tend to occur within the horse populations and breeds. Genetic testing can provide opportunities to monitor the ongoing processes within both the populations and the breeds, contributing to the subsequent selective breeding practice among the stud-farm horses in Yakutia. Analyses of 15 polymorphic microsatllite loci revealed the genetic breed-specific profiles for the Yakut, Megezhek, and Prilensk horse breeds. The alleles identified in the Megezhek horses were not found in the animals of the other two breeds. Allele LEX3G at locus LEX3 was recorded in the Yakut and Megezhek horses, which could be previously found only in the Arabian horses. The AHT4F allele previously found only in the Akhal-Teke horses was identified in the Megezhek horses. The effective number of alleles per microsatellite locus was larger in the Megezhek horses, with a mean of 4.327 ± 0.37. The actual heterozygosity values for the horses of all the breeds were almost the same, ranging from 0.636 to 0.651. The coefficient of genetic similarity at a microsatellite locus was highest (0.872) in the Megezhek and Yakut breeds. Thus, the coefficients of genetic similarities between both the Prilensk and Megezhek breeds and the Prilensk and Yakut breeds comprised 0.831 and 0.780, respectively.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Yakut Science Center for Complex Medical Problems, 677008, Yakutsk, Sakha Republic (Yakutia), Russia

    N. P. Filippova

  2. SakhaAgroPlem, State Budgetary Institution, 677001, Yakutsk, Sakha Republic (Yakutia), Russia

    N. P. Stepanov

  3. Yakut State Agricultural Academy, 677007, Yakutsk, Sakha Republic (Yakutia), Russia

    V. V. Dodokhov

  4. VIM Federal Agro Engineering Science Center, 109428, Moscow, Russia

    A. M. Gadgiev

  5. Ernst VIZh Federal Science Center for Animal Husbandry, 142132, Dubrovitsy, Moscow oblast, Russia

    N. S. Marzanov

Authors
  1. N. P. Filippova
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  2. N. P. Stepanov
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  3. V. V. Dodokhov
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  4. A. M. Gadgiev
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  5. N. S. Marzanov
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to N. S. Marzanov.

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Conflict of interest. The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Statement of welfare of animals. All applicable international, national, and/or institutional guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed. The article does not concern any researches using animals as objects.

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Translated by O. Zhiryakova

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Filippova, N.P., Stepanov, N.P., Dodokhov, V.V. et al. Morphological and Genetic Characteristics of Yakut Horse Breeds. Russ. Agricult. Sci. 46, 519–524 (2020). https://doi.org/10.3103/S1068367420050055

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.3103/S1068367420050055

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