Microsatellite diversity of the Nordic type of goats in relation to breed conservation: how relevant is pure ancestry?

In the last decades, several endangered breeds of livestock species have been re-established effectively. However, the successful revival of the Dutch and Danish Landrace goats involved crossing with exotic breeds and the ancestry of the current populations is therefore not clear. We have generated genotypes for 27 FAO-recommended microsatellites of these landraces and three phenotypically similar Nordic-type landraces and compared these breeds with central European, Mediterranean and south-west Asian goats. We found decreasing levels of genetic diversity with increasing distance from the south-west Asian domestication site with a south-east-to-north-west cline that is clearly steeper than the Mediterranean east-to-west cline. In terms of genetic diversity, the Dutch Landrace comes next to the isolated Icelandic breed, which has an extremely low diversity. The Norwegian coastal goat and the Finnish and Icelandic landraces are clearly related. It appears that by a combination of mixed origin and a population bottleneck, the Dutch and Danish Land-races are separated from the other breeds. However, the current Dutch and Danish populations with the multicoloured and long-horned appearance effectively substitute for the original breed, illustrating that for conservation of cultural heritage, the phenotype of a breed is more relevant than pure ancestry and the genetic diversity of the original breed. More in general, we propose that for conservation, the retention of genetic diversity of an original breed and of the visual phenotype by which the breed is recognized and defined needs to be considered separately

Morphological traits, reproductive and productive performances of Casertana pigs reared outdoors

Casertana is an Italian autochthonous pig breed. In the past, the breed was common in Campania and the surrounding area in South Italy because it was valued for its productive performance, particularly regarding the fattening tendency, but in recent decades, autochthonous swine have been replaced by cosmopolitan lean-type pigs and the Casertana breed also experienced a dramatic reduction in numbers. Concern over the preservation of genetic resources and the increased demand for regional food suggest a new way of maintaining the breed. Unfortunately, few recent data on the morpho- logical as well as on the productive traits are available. To ascertain the characteristics of the Casertana breed a pro- ductive trial was performed by comparing Casertana and Large White pure breed and their cross. Sixteen females and 6 males of pure breed Casertana and 18 females and 2 males of pure breed Italian Large White were mated twice to pro- duce Casertana, Large White and Casertana x Large White piglets. The average number of piglets born was significant- ly lower in Casertana gilts, but no difference in the number of weaned piglets among genetic types was observed. Sixty- eight animals of the three genetic types were reared outdoors and received two distinct diets differing in energy content. Pigs were weighted individually every month to calculate average daily gain. Morphological traits of Casertana pigs were also recorded. A total of 54 animals (21 Casertana at 151 kg live weight, 15 crossbreed at 157 kg live weight and 18 Large White at 179 kg live weight) were slaughtered and data on carcasses were collected. Average daily weight gain differed markedly (P< 0.05) among genetic types (450; 552; 695 g/d, respectively for Casertana; Casertana x Large White; Large White) and consequently the slaughter weight also differed. Casertana showed higher dressing percentages that the Italian Large White (P< 0.05). Backfat thickness was also clearly affected by genetic type (P< 0.05): Casertana pigs had the highest value (44.91 mm). The diet had no influence on the average daily weight gain and backfat thick- ness. However, pigs fed with higher energy component had higher (P< 0.05) dressing percentage