Ayagirwe Basengere, Meutchieye Felix, Djikeng Appolinaire, Skilton Robert, Osama Sarah, Manjeli Yacouba
Department of Animal Production, Faculty of Agriculture and Environmental Studies, Evangelical University in Africa, Bukavu, The Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Department of Animal Production, Faculty of Agronomy and Agricultural Sciences, University of Dschang, Cameroon.
J Anim Prod. 2017;19(1). doi: 10.20884/1.jap.2017.19.1.585.
Although domestic cavies are widely used in sub-Saharan Africa as a source of meat and income, there are only a few studies of their population structure and genetic relatedness. This seminal study was designed with the main objective to assess the genetic diversity and determine the population structure of cavy populations from Cameroon to guide the development of a cavy improvement program. Sixteen microsatellite markers were used to genotype 109 individuals from five cavy populations (Wouri, Moungo and Nkongsamba in the Littoral region, and Mémé and Fako in the Southwest region of Cameroon). Twelve markers worked in the five populations with a total of 17 alleles identified, with a range of 2.9 to 4.0 alleles per locus. Observed heterozygosity (from 0.022 to 0.277) among populations was lower than expected heterozygosity (from 0.42 to 0.54). Inbreeding rates between individuals of the populations and between individuals in each population were 59.3% and 57.2%, respectively, against a moderate differentiation rate of 4.9%. All the tested loci deviated from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, except for locus 3. Genetic distances between populations were small (from 0.008 to 0.277), with a high rate of variability among individuals within each population (54.4%). Three distinct genetic groups were structured. This study has shown that microsatellites are useful for the genetic characterization of cavy populations in Cameroon and that the populations investigated have sufficient genetic diversity that can be used to be deployed as a basis for weight, prolificacy and disease resistance improvement. The genetic of diversity in Southern Cameroon is wide and constitute an opportunity for cavy breeding program.
尽管家天竺鼠在撒哈拉以南非洲被广泛用作肉类和收入来源，但对其种群结构和遗传相关性的研究却很少。这项开创性研究的主要目的是评估喀麦隆天竺鼠种群的遗传多样性并确定其种群结构，以指导天竺鼠改良计划的制定。使用16个微卫星标记对来自喀麦隆五个天竺鼠种群（滨海地区的伍里、蒙戈和恩孔桑巴，以及西南地区的梅梅和法科）的109只个体进行基因分型。12个标记在这五个种群中有效，共鉴定出17个等位基因，每个位点的等位基因数在2.9至4.0之间。种群间观察到的杂合度（从0.022到0.277）低于预期杂合度（从0.42到0.54）。种群个体之间以及每个种群内个体之间的近亲繁殖率分别为59.3%和57.2%，而分化率适中，为4.9%。除位点3外，所有测试位点均偏离哈迪-温伯格平衡。种群间的遗传距离较小（从0.008到0.277），每个种群内个体间的变异率较高（54.4%）。形成了三个不同的遗传组。这项研究表明，微卫星对于喀麦隆天竺鼠种群的遗传特征分析很有用，并且所研究的种群具有足够的遗传多样性，可用于作为体重、繁殖力和抗病性改良的基础。喀麦隆南部的遗传多样性广泛，为天竺鼠育种计划提供了机会。
