Veterinary Archives, Vol. 94 No. 6, 2024.
Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.24099/vet.arhiv.2632
Population structure and genetic diversity in males of the autochthonous Busha cattle in Croatia
Aneta Piplica
; Department of Animal Breeding and Livestock Production, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Vittoria Asti
; Department of Veterinary Science, University of Parma, Parma, Italy
Anamaria Ekert Kabalin
; Department of Animal Breeding and Livestock Production, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Velimir Sušić
; Department of Animal Breeding and Livestock Production, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Maja Maurić Maljković
; Department of Animal Breeding and Livestock Production, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Ivan Vlahek
; Department of Animal Breeding and Livestock Production, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Mario Ostović
; Department of Animal Hygiene, Behaviour and Welfare, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Mato Čačić
; Ministry of Agriculture, Sector for Livestock Production, Zagreb, Croatia
Sven Menčik
; Department of Animal Breeding and Livestock Production, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
*
* Corresponding author.
Abstract
Busha is recognized as the most numerous autochthonous cattle breed in Croatia. In small populations, using the same sire repeatedly can increase inbreeding rates. This can lead to fewer high-quality, and high inbred breeding sires over time. Genealogical records of the Busha cattle breed registered from 1987 to 2022 were used to investigate the population structure and the genetic variability of the male individuals. The dataset included 10,411 animals, of which 3,962 were males. The average equivalent complete generation reached 2.92 in the total population and 3.05 in the reference population, when considering only living animals. The average inbreeding coefficient in the male population was 1.59%. Over the studied period, inbreeding rose to an average value of 2.07% in the last birth year cohort (2017-2022). The unequal contribution of the effective number of founders indicates the more frequent use of particular breeding sire lines. Nevertheless, despite the controlled inbreeding rate observed among breeding sires, and the absence of any evident population bottleneck, our study highlighted the need for breeding strategies to optimize the contribution of breeding animals in the next generations to ensure long-term conservation of the Busha cattle breed.
Keywords
genetic diversity; cattle; Busha; sire; pedigree analysis
Hrčak ID:
322069
URI
Publication date:
1.11.2024.
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