Genetic characteristics of Kodar snow sheep using SNP markers

Abstract

For the first time nuclear DNA polymorphisms were studied in Kodar snow sheep (Ovis nivicola kodarensis, KOD). KOD is a representative of a small isolated population of Asian snow sheep (Ovis nivicola Eschscholtz, 1829) inhabiting the Kodar Ridge (Irkutsk oblast, Transbaikal krai). We compared KOD with the geographically closest Yakut subspecies (Ovis nivicola lydekkeri). Genome-wide study of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) was performed using the Illumina OvineSNP50 BeadChip (Illumina, United States). The final set of markers for analysis included 1030 SNPs. We found that Kodar snow sheep had almost 10 times lower level of genetic diversity evaluated by multilocus heterozygosity—MLH (0.027 for KOD vs 0.215–0.270 for individuals of Yakut subspecies) and standardized MLH—stMLH (0.116 against 0.910–1.147). The results of multidimensional scaling (MDS), Nei distances calculations (D_N) and STRUCTURE analysis showed a clear genetic differentiation of Kodar snow sheep from Yakut subspecies. Our data is the first step to understanding the demographic history of the original Kodar population of snow sheep.