Genetic Variability of Akhal-Tekè Horse Bred in Italy

The Akhal-Tekè horses are well known for their speed, endurance on long marches and adaptation to severe climatic conditions. They are thought to be one of the most ancient surviving horse breeds. Since 1998, our Laboratory tested this rare horse breed in Italy for parentage control using both classical and microsatellite markers. In the present study, the genetic variability of microsatellite markers and variation at the mitochondrial DNA D-loop control region (mtDNA) of Akhal-Tekè horses reared in Italy were investigated. Eighty-nine Akhal-Tekè horses were analysed using 17 microsatellites. The genetic parameters, genetic equilibrium according to Hardy-Weinberg and inbreeding coefficient (F_IS) were estimated using GENEPOP program. The mtDNA variations were analysed in 22 unrelated horses, belonging to different bloodlines. A 379 bp fragment of horse mtDNA was amplified and was sequenced. All the obtained sequences were aligned with reference horse mtDNA sequence (GenBank# X79547), using CLUSTALW software. Genetic diversity was analyzed based on basic parameters calculated using DnaSP 5.1 software. Twelve haplotypes were found in the Akhal-Tekè horses reared in Italy. In order to investigate genetic relationships, mtDNA horse sequences from GenBank database were used. MEGA v.7.0.14 and NETWORK 4.5.0.1. software were used to analyze the relationships among the identified haplotypes and GenBank sequences. Hd, π and k values were 0.938, 0.021 and 6,448 respectively. The comparison between the identified horse mtDNA sequences and database sequences showed seven haplogroups