Genetic evaluation of the Novotalitskaya and Shebalinskaya populations of marals (Cervus elaphus sibiricus)

Currently, various approaches, including molecular genetic methods, are used to study the gene pool of different breeds and populations and to determine their genetic structure and diversity. The development of molecular genetic methods has opened up new possibilities for evaluating genetic diversity, determining population structure, and controlling the degree of inbreeding. One type of molecular genetic marker is microsatellites. The aim of the research was the genetic evaluation of the Novotalitskaya and Shebalinskaya maral populations using microsatellite markers. Molecular genetic studies were carried out in collaboration with the Bioengineering Laboratory of the Altai State University. Biological material from maral stags (ear concha cartilaginous tissue) was sampled in the branch “OS Novotalitskoe” of the Federal Altai Research Center of Agro- Biotechnologies (Charyshskiy District, Altai Region) and the LLC “Maral-Tolusoma” (Shebalinskiy District, Republic of Altai). Polymorphism in the maral populations was studied using five markers (ETH225, Haut14, ILSTS06, INRA35, and MM12). The number of alleles of these loci was found to vary from 7 (MM12) to 34 (ILSTS06) in the Novotalitskaya population, and from 8 (MM12) to 27 (ILSTS06, ETH225) in the Shebalinskaya population, with an average of 21.8 alleles in each. When analysing five loci, 109 alleles were found in each population. The most frequent genotypes in the Novotalitskaya population are 091/091 of the MM12 locus; in the Shebalinskaya population – 090/090 of the MM12 locus and 103/103 of the INRA35 locus. The heterozygosity of the microsatellite loci varies from 0.00 for the MM12 locus to 0.56 for the ILSTS06 locus (Novotalitskaya and Shebalinskaya populations), and 0.57 for the ETH225 locus (Novotalitskaya population). The analysis revealed a rather high level of inbreeding in the populations.

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