Ćosić Ivan, Stojiljković Krstina Zeljić, Pihler Ivan, Cekić Bogdan, Ružić-Muslić Dragana, Delić Nikola, Aleksić Jelena M
Institute for Animal Husbandry, Belgrade-Zemun, Autoput 16, P.O. Box 23, 11080 Belgrade, Serbia.
Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Novi Sad, Trg Dositeja Obradovića 8, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia.
Animals (Basel). 2025 Apr 23;15(9):1193. doi: 10.3390/ani15091193.
Bardoka and Karakachan sheep are primitive regional transboundary Pramenka-type sheep autochthonous to the Balkan Peninsula, whose populations have been reduced to a critically small size in Serbia. We genotyped 105 Bardoka animals (97 ewes and 8 rams from three flocks) and 97 Karakachan sheep (86 ewes and 11 rams from four flocks), along with 28 Ile-de-France (IDF) animals used for a comparison (25 ewes and 3 rams), using 14 nuclear microsatellites to assess their genetic status and establish a foundation for their genetically informed conservation. We utilized genetic data to assess inbreeding values of individuals (I) and pairwise relatedness (r) traditionally inferred from the pedigree data, which are incomplete in the studied autochthonous breeds. We used these data to assemble a data set of unrelated individuals for subsequent genetic analyses. Low but statistically significant genetic differentiation of Bardoka and Karakachan sheep (F = 0.031, < 0.01) demonstrates that these phenotypically distinct breeds differ at the genetic level as well. The I and r in ewes were higher in the Karakachan sheep (I = 0.09, r = 0.07) than in Bardoka (I = 0.06, r = 0.06). Contrary to the IDF rams, Bardoka and Karakachan sheep rams were genetically heterogeneous and those of the latter breed displayed higher average r values (0.01 vs. 0.08, respectively). Rams of both local breeds had identical I values of 0.02. Although Bardoka and Karakachan sheep still harbor rather high levels of genetic diversity (H = 0.761 ± 0.028 and 0.761 ± 0.021, respectively), the overall genetic data demonstrate that the genetic consequences of the population decline were more severe in the latter breed. A genetic structure presenting a general trend of differentiation of flocks with low genetic exchange into separate genetic entities was observed, indicating the effects of genetic drift. The implementation of the genetically informed conservation, together with the ongoing efforts of the state to enlarge the Bardoka and Karakachan sheep populations, would increase the prospects for the long-term survival of both breeds in Serbia.
巴尔多卡羊和卡拉卡昌羊是巴尔干半岛特有的原始跨界普拉门卡型绵羊，其在塞尔维亚的种群数量已减少到极低的水平。我们对105只巴尔多卡羊（来自三个羊群的97只母羊和8只公羊）和97只卡拉卡昌羊（来自四个羊群的86只母羊和11只公羊）进行了基因分型，同时对28只法兰西岛（IDF）羊（25只母羊和3只公羊）进行了基因分型用于比较，使用14个核微卫星来评估它们的遗传状况，并为基于遗传信息的保护奠定基础。我们利用遗传数据评估个体的近亲繁殖值（I）和传统上从系谱数据推断的成对亲缘关系（r），在研究的本地品种中系谱数据并不完整。我们使用这些数据组装了一个无关个体的数据集用于后续的遗传分析。巴尔多卡羊和卡拉卡昌羊之间存在低但具有统计学意义的遗传分化（F = 0.031，P < 0.01），表明这些表型不同的品种在遗传水平上也存在差异。卡拉卡昌羊母羊的I值（I = 0.09）和r值（r = 0.07）高于巴尔多卡羊母羊（I = 0.06，r = 0.06）。与IDF公羊相反，巴尔多卡羊和卡拉卡昌羊的公羊在遗传上是异质的，且后者品种的公羊显示出更高的平均r值（分别为0.01和0.08）。两个本地品种公羊的I值均为0.02。尽管巴尔多卡羊和卡拉卡昌羊仍拥有相当高的遗传多样性水平（分别为H = 0.761 ± 0.028和0.761 ± 0.021），但总体遗传数据表明种群数量下降对后者品种的遗传影响更为严重。观察到一种遗传结构，呈现出遗传交换低的羊群分化为不同遗传实体的总体趋势，表明存在遗传漂变的影响。实施基于遗传信息的保护，以及国家为扩大巴尔多卡羊和卡拉卡昌羊种群数量正在做出的努力，将增加这两个品种在塞尔维亚长期生存的前景。
