Changes in the microsatellite profile in an experimental herd of Nenets reindeer

Abstract

The aim of the research is to evaluate changes in the allelic structure of DNA microsatellites in a herd of Nenets reindeer. The work was carried out in the Priuralsky district of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, on an experimental herd of animals belonging to the Yamal experimental station. The allelofund included a microsatellite profile of 300 deer obtained as a result of the 2018 study and 100 animals analyzed in 2022. It was found that significant transformations were observed at all loci, with the exception of NVHRT24. In the microsatellite profile of 2018, there were 6 alleles with a total frequency of 0.298, which were not detected in the 2022 studies. In 2022, 8 alleles with a total frequency of 0.105 not identified in the previous study were established. The Shannon index indicates a slight increase in genetic diversity in the analyzed population (by 0.059), as well as an increase in the observed heterozygosity of animals (by 0.074). The fixation index for all analyzed loci showed that both in the sample of 2018 and 2022, there was a deficit of heterozygotes in the study population, however, the data of 2022 indicate a decrease in the deficit of heterozygotes by 0.089. Analysis of the divergence of the population for individual loci indicates that the maximum divergence of the allelic structure occurred at the RT9 locus (d=0.331), RT30 (d=0.236) and NVHRT76 (d=0.231), and the maximum similarity was preserved for the loci NVHRT24 (d=0.007), RT1 (d=0.0014) and RT7 (d=0.0020). Thus, pronounced gene drift was observed in the studied population.