Molecular Identification of the “Facciuta Della Valnerina” Local Goat Population Reared in the Umbria Region, Italy

SIMPLE SUMMARY: The Facciuta goat originated from Valnerina, a geographic area in central Italy, including the adjacent parts of four regions: Umbria, Marche, Lazio, and Abruzzo. The aim of this study was to assess how useful microsatellite molecular markers are for the genetic discrimination of the local goat, Facciuta della Valnerina, compared with the two cosmopolitan breeds, Saanen and Camosciata delle Alpi, reared in the same geographic area. The results revealed a very clear separation between the local population (Facciuta della Valnerina) and the two reference goat breeds (Saanen and Camosciata delle Alpi). Furthermore, reducing the number of markers from 16 to 12 still allowed us to distinguish the local population, indicating that microsatellite markers are an inexpensive method to discriminate local livestock breeds. This could be a fast and inexpensive genomic tool to trace goat products and distinguish their origin. ABSTRACT: Italy holds important genetic resources of small ruminant breeds. By distinguishing goat breeds at the DNA level, certification of products from specific breeds can be valorized. The aim of this study was to establish the genetic identity of Facciuta della Valnerina, a local goat population of Italy, compared with the cosmopolitan breeds, Saanen and Camosciata delle Alpi, reared in the same geographic area. A total of 116 microsatellite alleles ranging from 4 to 13 were detected at 16 loci in the three goat populations/breeds. A total of 23 private alleles with frequencies lower than 0.3 were detected in the Facciuta della Valnerina population. The mean numbers of alleles were 6.67, 4.58, and 4.92 in Facciuta della Valnerina, Camosciata delle Alpi, and Saanen, respectively. The expected heterozygosity ranged from 0.20 to 0.86. Most loci were highly polymorphic and informative (polymorphic information content ≥0.50). Factorial correspondence analysis and principal components analysis revealed very clear separation between Facciuta della Valnerina and the two reference goat breeds. Reducing the number of markers from 16 to 12 (on the basis of polymorphic information content and the number of alleles) still allowed us to distinguish the local population, indicating that microsatellite markers are capable of discriminating local livestock breeds at a low cost.