Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 9, 2025

A Noninvasive Hair Sampling Technique to Obtain High Quality DNA from Elusive Small Mammals
Published on: March 13, 2011
Genetic diversity, population structure, and selective signature of sheep in the northeastern Tarim Basin
Jieru Wang1,2,3, Jiajia Suo1, Ruizhi Yang1
1Key Laboratory of Protection and Utilization of Biological Resources in Tarim Basin Co-Funded by Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps and The Ministry of Science and Technology, College of Life Science and Technology, Tarim University, Alar, Xinjiang, China.
Abstract:
Local sheep in the northeastern Tarim Basin can adapt to dry and low-rainfall regional environments. In this study, three local sheep breeds in the northeastern Tarim Basin, LOP (LOP) sheep, Bayinbuluke (BYK) sheep, and Kunlun (KUN, also known as the Qiemo sheep) sheep, and three introduced sheep breeds, Suffolk (SUF) sheep, Dorset (APD) sheep, and Texel (TEX) sheep, were analyzed for genetic diversity, population structure, and selective signature using the Illumina OvineSNP50K BeadChip. We found that LOP, BYK, and KUN had lower observed heterozygosity and expected heterozygosity than TEX, SUF, and ADP, which were differentiated based on geographic distribution. We performed fixation index (FST) analysis on three local sheep breeds in the northeastern Tarim Basin (LOP, BYK, and KUN) and introduced sheep breeds (TEX, SUF, and ADP) to measure genetic differentiation. Nucleotide diversity (PI) analysis was performed on single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) data of LOP, BYK, and KUN. A total of 493 candidate genes were obtained by taking the intersection at a threshold of 5%. Among them, SMAD2, ESR2, and HAS2 were related to reproductive traits. PCDH15, TLE4, and TFAP2B were related to growth traits. SOD1, TSHR, and DNAJB5 were related to desert environmental adaptation. Analyzing the genetic patterns of local sheep in the northeastern Tarim Basin can protect the germplasm resources of local sheep and promote the development and utilization of sheep genetic resources.
Related Concept Videos
Conservation of Small Populations
Mutation, Gene Flow, and Genetic Drift
Gene Flow
What is Population Genetics?
Genetic Drift
Gene Evolution - Fast or Slow?
In contrast, regions which code...

