Original scientific paper

Investigation of the Dalmatian bušak horse type in Dalmatia

Ema Listeš orcid.org/0000-0001-9109-138X ; Faculty of veterinary medicine University of Zagreb
Kristina Starčević ; Faculty of veterinary medicine University of Zagreb
Krešimir Severin ; Faculty of veterinary medicine University of Zagreb
Marko Cotman ; Faculty of veterinary medicine University of Ljubljana
Ljubo Barbić ; Faculty of veterinary medicine University of Zagreb
Maja Maurić ; Faculty of veterinary medicine University of Zagreb

Abstract

In order to preserve global biodiversity and a larger genetic pool, a lot of effort is put on the conservation of domestic animal local autochthonous breeds. One of potential Croatian autochthonous breeds, accordingly to the „Green book of indigenous breeds of Croatia“ classified as extinct or unknown, is Dalmatian bušak. Not much data is available about the aforementioned population, with the only available one being about the morphological description and measurements of the horse. As in Dalmatia there still is a small population of horses that with their physical characteristics correspond to the ones of the Dalmatian bušak, the object of the study was to measure them and compare to the literature data. Also, microsatellite genetic markers were used for further characterization and description of the population. In total six horses (2 males and 4 females), in the age from 2,5 to 3,5 years, were included in the study. Based on body part measurements assessment, the horses in this study were smaller in size compared to the ones from the literature. From 17 investigeted loci, 16 were polymorphic and one monomorphic. The average observed heterozygosity (HO) was 0,7 and expected heterozygosity (HE) was 0,6. Consequently, the fixation index (FIS) was negative. The average polymorphism information content (PIC), as well as the one of most loci separatedly, was highly informative. The frequency range of all 17 loci was from 8,3% to 100%. Despite a small sample, all observed loci were in genetic equilibrium according to the Hardy–Weinberg law. Regardless the small number of animals used, given the obtained results, this research presents the beginning of a study with the goal of preserving this potential autochthonous breed.

Keywords

Dalmatian bušak; autochthonous breeds; biodiversity; microsatellites

Hrčak ID:

208234

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/208234

Publication date:

9.11.2018.

Article data in other languages: croatian

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