Genetic diversity in 10 populations of domestic Turkeys by using microsatellites markers

The domestic turkey is a native breed in danger of extinction due to the introduction of new breeds specializing in meat production and yield. Turkeys have lost some prominence in urban areas, and only certain breeds of turkeys are preserved in rural areas. Wild and domestic turkeys are different; rural or indigenous turkeys, with black plumage, were domesticated from Mexican turkeys and have been reproduced throughout Latin America. Some of them were taken to Europe in the 16th century and later arrived in North America, where they crossed with another wild species, from which the bronze turkey emerged: the ancestor of all commercial turkeys. The objective of the present work was to evaluate the genetic diversity in 10 populations of domestic turkeys worldwide by using breeds from Europe: Spain and Italy; America: Mexico, United States and Brazil; and the Near East: Iran and Egypt. A total of 522 blood samples of both sexes were collected from domestic turkey populations. Thirty-four microsatellites were used to obtain genetic parameters, and genetic diversity was evaluated. All microsatellites used were polymorphic, and a total of 427 alleles were detected across the 34 markers investigated. In this study, a mean number of 13.44 alleles was found. The four most diverse breeds were from the Andalusia, Mexico, United States, and wild populations, which had the highest mean heterozygosity expected (0.619, 0.612, 0.650, and 0.773) and heterozygosity observed (0.422, 0.521, 0.429, and 0.627), respectively. The MNT348 marker deviated from the HWE in all populations. Our study has shown that the populations close to the species origin are more diverse than those resulting from posterior expansions. Mexican birds were the most diverse, followed by the Spanish populations because Spain imported a large number of turkeys coming from America. Such information can be complementary to other genotypic data required to validate the evolutionary relationships among turkey populations.