Insight into the Current Genetic Diversity and Population Structure of Domestic Reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) in Russia

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Reindeer herding is the most important agricultural sector of the Russian Far North, representing the local genetic resources that compose original genetic wealth for the indigenous Arctic ethnic groups, which has maintained their life in harsh conditions of the area for many years. Conservation about and further rational use of such resources are very difficult without taking into account genetic diversity. Here, for the first time, the current genetic composition of the four officially recognized reindeer breeds and their ecotypes inhabiting the area from the Kola Peninsula in the west to the Chukotka region in the east are described using a single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) array. Our findings reveal the genetic uniqueness of each breed, formed by the consequences of ecological processes, internal gene flow, breeding practices, and geographical features. The obtained results will assist the ongoing breeding policy to develop accurate programs to preserve genetic resources of this essential element of Russia’s Far North ecosystem. ABSTRACT: To examine the genetic diversity and population structure of domestic reindeer, using the BovineHD BeadChip, we genotyped reindeer individuals belonging to the Nenets breed of the five main breeding regions, the Even breed of the Republic of Sakha, the Evenk breed of the Krasnoyarsk and Yakutia regions, and the Chukotka breed of the Chukotka region and its within-breed ecotype, namely, the Chukotka–Khargin, which is bred in Yakutia. The Chukotka reindeer was shown to have the lowest genetic diversity in terms of the allelic richness and heterozygosity indicators. The principal component analysis (PCA) results are consistent with the neighbor-net tree topology, dividing the reindeer into groups according to their habitat location and origin of the breed. Admixture analysis indicated a genetic structuring of two groups of Chukotka origin, the Even breed and most of the geographical groups of the Nenets breed, with the exception of the Murmansk reindeer, the gene pool of which was comprised of the Nenets and apparently the native Sami reindeer. The presence of a genetic component of the Nenets breed in some reindeer inhabiting the Krasnoyarsk region was detected. Our results provide a deeper insight into the current intra-breeding reindeer genetic diversity, which is an important requirement for future reindeer herding strategies and for animal adaptation to environmental changes.