Genetic diversity and relationship among indigenous Turkish Karayaka sheep subpopulations

The Karayaka is the most populous sheep breed in the Black Sea region of Turkey. In the present study, we investigated the intra- and inter-population genetic relationships among indigenous Karayaka sheep subpopulations. Nine microsatellites were genotyped for 64 individuals from Samsun, Ordu, Giresun and Tokat provinces. The average number of alleles ([Formula: see text]), allelic richness ([Formula: see text]), observed heterozygosity ([Formula: see text]), expected heterozygosity ([Formula: see text]), polymorphism information content (PIC) and inbreeding coefficient ([Formula: see text]) for all subpopulations were estimated as [Formula: see text] , [Formula: see text] , [Formula: see text] , [Formula: see text] , [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] , respectively. The observed and expected heterozygosity ranged from 0.171 (Giresun) to 0.376 (Ordu) and 0.757 (Samsun) to 0.845 (Ordu), respectively. It was determined that a 10.5 % of total genetic variation ([Formula: see text] %) in Karayaka sheep corresponded to genetic differences among subpopulations ([Formula: see text]), whereas 63.0 % was explained by genetic difference among individuals ([Formula: see text]). This study gives the first evidence about genetic relationships of Karayaka subpopulations. The results show that Karayaka sheep subpopulations are genetically different from each other. These findings revealed that the Karayaka breed has discrete subpopulations and should be taken into consideration when preparing conservation programs and future breeding strategies.