Genetic characterization of Mangalarga Marchador horse

BAENA MM; AMORIM CAETANO SOUZA F; PEREIRA RIBEIRO Y; DIAZ S; OLIVERA LH; SILVA DE MOURA R; LAGUNA CONCEPCION MEIRELLES S

LIVESTOCK SCIENCE

ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2022 vol. 258

1871-1413

Mangalarga Marchador (MM) is the most important Brazilian horse breed, with 600 thousand animals registered.The aim of this study carry out the genetic characterization of the breed. Samples were collected from 355 horses[MM, n = 218; Andalusian n = 20; Purebred Lusitano n = 21; Sorraia (SOR) n = 16; Thoroughbred n = 21;Campolina (CAM) n = 21, and Mangalarga (MAN) n = 38] and genotyped with the SNP 70K BeadChip. Parameterswere calculated, such as expected heterozygosities (He), Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (HWE), linkagedisequilibrium (r2), genetic differentiation, and principal component analysis (PCA); and haplotypes in commonand population structure was assessed by Bayesian methods. The MM breed obtained reasonable He and deviationsfrom HWE. The SOR breed had high r2, and CAM and MM had low r2. MAN and MM had a similarhaplotype block. Analyses of population structure showed that, just as the other Brazilian breeds, the MM breedis not well defined, showing signs of substructure and possibly admixture. The analyses with PCA showed thatBrazilian breeds clustered together, and well separated from the remaining breeds. A breeding program seekingto maximize the variability of MM and structure the breed as a more defined genetic entity should be implemented immediately.