Analysis of Genetic Diversity and Structure of Mongolian Horse Using Microsatellite Markers

Jehyun An¹, Khaliunaa Tseveen², Baatartsogt Oyungerel², Hong Sik Kong¹^,³^,⁴^,^*

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¹Department of Applied Biotechnology, The Graduate School of Hankyong National University, Anseong 17579, Korea.

²Department of Biotechnology, Mongolian University of Life Sciences, Ulaanbaatar 17024, Mongolia.

³Hankyong and Genetics, Anseong 17579, Korea.

⁴Gyeonggi Regional Research Center, Hankyong National University, Anseong 17579, Korea.

^*Corresponding Author: Hong Sik Kong, Department of Applied Biotechnology, The Graduate School of Hankyong National University, Anseong 17579, Korea, Republic of. Hankyong and Genetics, Anseong 17579, Korea, Republic of. Gyeonggi Regional Research Center, Hankyong National University, Anseong 17579, Korea, Republic of. E-mail: kebinkhs@hknu.ac.kr.

© Copyright 2022 Korean Society of Animal Science and Technology. This is an Open-Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Mongolian horses are one of the oldest horse breeds, and are very important livestock in Mongolia as they are used in various fields such as transportation, food (milk, meat), and horse racing. In addition, research and preservation on pure Mongolian breeds are being promoted under the implementation of the new Genetics of Livestock Resources' act in Mongolia. However, despite the implementation of this act, genetic research on Mongolian horses using microsatellites (MS) has not progressed enough. Therefore, this study was conducted to analyze the genetic polymorphism of five breeds (Gobi shankh, Tes, Gal shar, Darkhad, and Undurshil) using 14 MS markers recommended by ISAG. The mean number of alleles (MNA) was 8.29, expected heterozygosity frequency (H<sub>Exp</sub>) was 0.767, observed heterozygosity frequency (H<sub>Obs</sub>) was 0.752, and polymorphism information content (PIC) was 0.729. The Nei's genetic distance analysis showed that the genetic distance between Gobi shankh and Darkhad horses was the farthest, and the other three breeds, Tes, Gal shar, and Undurshil were found to be close to each other. Similarly, the principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) and factorial correspondence analysis (FCA) showed that the Gobi shankh and Darkhad horses were genetically distinct from other breeds. On the other hand, it appears that Tes, Gal shar, and Undurshil horses, which are genetically similar, most likely interbred with each other. Therefore, it is expected that these results will help the conservation of genetic resources in Mongolia and the establishment of policies related to Mongolian horses.

Keywords: Mongolian breeds; Genetic polymorphism; ISAG; PCoA; FCA