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Microsatellite DNA variation in domestic ratite populations Benun, Assaf
Abstract
Ostrich (Struthio camelus) farming in North America is a growing industry that recently started moving from the breeder market to the slaughter market. The domesticated ostriches, the Black (Struthio camelus var domesticus) and the Blue (S. c. australis). have been bred in South Africa and farmed in the past 150 years. More recently, another subspecies, the Red (S. c. massaicus) has been added to the farm population. The commercial importation to North America has only begun in the mid 1980s. Unlike other poultry, ostriches have a relatively long generation time, require more rearing space, and have a high per unit dollar value. Because their pedigrees have not been well kept, the genetic variation of North American ostriches is not known. Fears of inbreeding and limited heterozygosity arose from limited knowledge of the breeders background and may affect the type of genetic manipulation that will be necessary for improving production, i.e., selection, cross-breeding and inbreeding. I used 8 recently developed microsatellite markers to measure the genetic variability in breeding flocks (66 birds) from 3 farms in British Columbia. Significant allelic frequency differences were found between breeding flocks as well as between different ostrich subspecies. The Blue seems to be genetically closer to the Black than the Red. Heterozygosity was found to be comparable to that reported in other ostrich populations. Positive correlation (r = 0.28) was found between heterozygosity and body weight, however, there were no obvious signs of inbreeding depression. The results suggest breeding stocks of the three farms came from diverse sources. Calculated genetic distances confirmed the genetic relationship between the different subspecies. Among other paleognathous birds farmed today, emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae) farming is a growing industry in North America and the tinamou (Nothroprocta perdicaria sanbonii) is a newly farmed bird in British Columbia. The development of microsatellite markers for these two species will be useful for genomic studies. The cross-species amplification of microsatellites in these two species with the application of ten ostrich primer sets was examined. Five primer sets amplified emu D N A and four sets amplified tinamou DNA. Microsatellite marker LIST002 was found to be 68% conserved between the emu and the ostrich. For marker O SM 4 ostrich sequence was found to be conserved in both the tinamou and emu (68% and 79% respectively) in the stretch prior to the repeats region. O SM 1 was 50% conserved among the tinamou and the emu. One locus (LIST002) showed polymorphism in the tinamou. However, it is not known whether it contains a microsatellite. The results indicated that cross-species amplification of DNA using ostrich primers in the emu and tinamou can be obtained quite efficiently. However, obtaining microsatellites using cross species amplification is inferior to a species specific library. Albeit, microsatellite repeat were found and should be considered for use in future research.
Item Metadata
Title |
Microsatellite DNA variation in domestic ratite populations
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Creator | |
Publisher |
University of British Columbia
|
Date Issued |
1999
|
Description |
Ostrich (Struthio camelus) farming in North America is a growing industry that
recently started moving from the breeder market to the slaughter market. The domesticated
ostriches, the Black (Struthio camelus var domesticus) and the Blue (S. c. australis). have
been bred in South Africa and farmed in the past 150 years. More recently, another
subspecies, the Red (S. c. massaicus) has been added to the farm population. The
commercial importation to North America has only begun in the mid 1980s. Unlike other
poultry, ostriches have a relatively long generation time, require more rearing space, and
have a high per unit dollar value. Because their pedigrees have not been well kept, the
genetic variation of North American ostriches is not known. Fears of inbreeding and
limited heterozygosity arose from limited knowledge of the breeders background and may
affect the type of genetic manipulation that will be necessary for improving production,
i.e., selection, cross-breeding and inbreeding. I used 8 recently developed microsatellite
markers to measure the genetic variability in breeding flocks (66 birds) from 3 farms in
British Columbia. Significant allelic frequency differences were found between breeding
flocks as well as between different ostrich subspecies. The Blue seems to be genetically
closer to the Black than the Red. Heterozygosity was found to be comparable to that
reported in other ostrich populations. Positive correlation (r = 0.28) was found between
heterozygosity and body weight, however, there were no obvious signs of inbreeding
depression. The results suggest breeding stocks of the three farms came from diverse
sources. Calculated genetic distances confirmed the genetic relationship between the
different subspecies. Among other paleognathous birds farmed today, emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae)
farming is a growing industry in North America and the tinamou (Nothroprocta perdicaria
sanbonii) is a newly farmed bird in British Columbia. The development of microsatellite
markers for these two species will be useful for genomic studies. The cross-species
amplification of microsatellites in these two species with the application of ten ostrich
primer sets was examined. Five primer sets amplified emu D N A and four sets amplified
tinamou DNA. Microsatellite marker LIST002 was found to be 68% conserved between
the emu and the ostrich. For marker O SM 4 ostrich sequence was found to be conserved in
both the tinamou and emu (68% and 79% respectively) in the stretch prior to the repeats
region. O SM 1 was 50% conserved among the tinamou and the emu. One locus (LIST002)
showed polymorphism in the tinamou. However, it is not known whether it contains a
microsatellite. The results indicated that cross-species amplification of DNA using
ostrich primers in the emu and tinamou can be obtained quite efficiently. However,
obtaining microsatellites using cross species amplification is inferior to a species specific
library. Albeit, microsatellite repeat were found and should be considered for use in future
research.
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Extent |
7258177 bytes
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Genre | |
Type | |
File Format |
application/pdf
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Language |
eng
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Date Available |
2009-06-16
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Provider |
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
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Rights |
For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.
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DOI |
10.14288/1.0058331
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URI | |
Degree | |
Program | |
Affiliation | |
Degree Grantor |
University of British Columbia
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Graduation Date |
1999-11
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Campus | |
Scholarly Level |
Graduate
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Aggregated Source Repository |
DSpace
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Item Media
Item Citations and Data
Rights
For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.