Special Issue "Genetic Resources in Livestock and Fish: Management and Conservation Strategies"

A special issue of Animals (ISSN 2076-2615). This special issue belongs to the section "Animal Genetics and Genomics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 November 2023 | Viewed by 3706

Special Issue Editor

Research Institute of Animal Science, ELGO ‘DIMITRA’, General Directorate of Agricultural Research, Paralimni Giannitsa, 58100 Pella, Greece
Interests: animal genetics; aquaculture and fisheries genetics; quantitative genetics; population and conservation genetics; molecular genetics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

For the past 20 years, countries have initiated programs to sustainably conserve animal genetic resources. Some advances have been made in developing and implementing in vivo conservation programs, but those efforts appear to be predicated upon various types of government subsidies, which are subject, to policy changes. In addition, there is still a large gap between the current state-of-the-art genomic tools and their use for resources characterization and application to many non-commercial and local breeds/species/populations, hampering the consistent utilization of genetic and genomic data as indicators of genetic erosion and diversity. Therefore, this challenging target demands better coverage, understanding and utilization of genomic and environmental data, as well as, the development of optimized ways to integrate these data with social and other sciences and policy analysis to enable more flexible, evidence-based models to underpin conservation. The livestock and fisheries genomic sectors need to make a concerted effort in the coming decade to enable the democratization of the powerful tools that are now at their disposal, and to ensure that they are applied in the context of breed/species/population conservation as well as development.

For this Special Issue, original manuscripts covering all aspects of livestock and fisheries genetics, such as population genetics, local breed/population/species investigation and/or valorization opportunities, quantitative genetics, genetic variability, crossbreeding strategies, gene polymorphisms are welcome.

Dr. Dimitrios Loukovitis
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • animals
  • conservation
  • management
  • genetic resources
  • livestock
  • fish
  • genetics

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

Article
Environmental and Socio–Cultural Factors Impacting the Unique Gene Pool Pattern of Mae Hong-Son Chicken
Animals 2023, 13(12), 1949; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13121949 - 10 Jun 2023
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Abstract
Understanding the genetic diversity of domestic chicken breeds under the impact of socio–cultural and ecological dynamics is vital for the conservation of natural resources. Mae Hong Son chicken is a local breed of North Thai domestic chicken widely distributed in Mae Hong Son [...] Read more.
Understanding the genetic diversity of domestic chicken breeds under the impact of socio–cultural and ecological dynamics is vital for the conservation of natural resources. Mae Hong Son chicken is a local breed of North Thai domestic chicken widely distributed in Mae Hong Son Province, Thailand; however, its genetic characterization, origin, and diversity remain poorly understood. Here, we studied the socio–cultural, environmental, and genetic aspects of the Mae Hong Son chicken breed and investigated its diversity and allelic gene pool. We genotyped 28 microsatellite markers and analyzed mitochondrial D-loop sequencing data to evaluate genetic diversity and assessed spatial habitat suitability using maximum entropy modeling. Sequence diversity analysis revealed a total of 188 genotyped alleles, with overall nucleotide diversity of 0.014 ± 0.007, indicating that the Mae Hong Son chicken population is genetically highly diverse, with 35 (M1–M35) haplotypes clustered into haplogroups A, B, E, and F, mostly in the North ecotype. Allelic gene pool patterns showed a unique DNA fingerprint of the Mae Hong Son chicken, as compared to other breeds and red junglefowl. A genetic introgression of some parts of the gene pool of red junglefowl and other indigenous breeds was identified in the Mae Hong Son chicken, supporting the hypothesis of the origin of the Mae Hong Son chicken. During domestication in the past 200–300 years after the crossing of indigenous chickens and red junglefowl, the Mae Hong Son chicken has adapted to the highland environment and played a significant socio–cultural role in the Northern Thai community. The unique genetic fingerprint of the Mae Hong Son chicken, retaining a high level of genetic variability that includes a dynamic demographic and domestication history, as well as a range of ecological factors, might reshape the adaptation of this breed under selective pressure. Full article
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Article
Karyotypic and Molecular Analysis of Pterygoplichthys pardalis (Castelnau 1855) from the Lower Amazon River
Animals 2023, 13(9), 1533; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13091533 - 03 May 2023
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Abstract
Pterygoplichthys pardalis is an armored catfish native to South America and an important resource for the ornamental fish industry. Recently, several exotic populations have been introduced into rivers on five continents. Despite its commercial and environmental importance, P. pardalis is poorly studied from [...] Read more.
Pterygoplichthys pardalis is an armored catfish native to South America and an important resource for the ornamental fish industry. Recently, several exotic populations have been introduced into rivers on five continents. Despite its commercial and environmental importance, P. pardalis is poorly studied from a genetic perspective. In this study, we analyzed the karyotype of P. pardalis from the Amazon River and molecular variations in the mitochondrial gene Cytochrome oxidase I (COI) between native and exotic populations. The karyotype presented diploid number 2n = 52 and NF = 100 without cytogenetic variation between males and females. Nucleolus organizer regions (Ag-NOR) in the distal region of the long arm of pair 12 coincided with the 18S hybridization signal, whereas 5S was syntenic to this chromosome but localized in the short arm. The constitutive heterochromatin was restricted in the distal regions of pairs 4, 12, 25, and 26. Telomeric probes showed only distal hybridization signals. The karyotype of P. pardalis diverged from that of its congeners, and COI molecular variation revealed four haplotypes. The Philippine population revealed the greatest diversity with three haplotypes, while haplotype H1 was the most abundant and observed in both native and exotic populations. This new genetic data contributes to species management and provides useful information from an aquaculture perspective. Full article
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Article
Genetic Parameters and Genotype × Diet Interaction for Body Weight Performance and Fat in Gilthead Seabream
Animals 2023, 13(1), 180; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13010180 - 03 Jan 2023
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Abstract
There has been thorough research on the genotype by diet interaction and the extent of its impact on the genetic evaluation, using a partly replaced marine animal protein on the gilthead seabream. To do that, 8356 individuals were gathered from two batches and [...] Read more.
There has been thorough research on the genotype by diet interaction and the extent of its impact on the genetic evaluation, using a partly replaced marine animal protein on the gilthead seabream. To do that, 8356 individuals were gathered from two batches and followed different diets: a high-plant-protein diet containing 85% plant proteins and a standard commercial one containing 30% marine animal protein. During the experiment, body weight, growth and fat content were recorded. High heritability estimates were detected for the body weight performance and fat content. A small effect of genotype by diet interaction was detected in all phenotypes (presented as the genetic correlations from 0.95 to 0.97) but a medium-high ranking correlation between the breeding values for each trait was estimated (0.72–0.70). A higher expected response to selection for the body weight performance was detected using the standard commercial rather than the plant-based diet. Based on the findings, the establishment of a plant-based diet breeding strategy can be achieved provided the reduction of the cost of aquafeed is attained, though a lower genetic gain is expected. Full article
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