Genetic relationships among Italian and Croatian Podolian cattle breeds assessed by microsatellite markers

As recent findings supported new hypotheses regarding the origin and spreading of Podolian breeds, the objectives of the present study were to assess the current genetic diversity and the population structure of five Italian Podolian breeds, and to explore their genetic relationships with the Istrian Cattle (IST) population of Croatia, as Istria peninsula represents the passage between Italian and Balcanic Peninsulas. A total of 373 animals were analyzed using 20 microsatellite markers. The individuals were from seven different breeds: IST (n = 113), Romagnola (ROM, n = 53), Marchigiana (MAC, n = 32), Chianina (CHI, n = 30), Maremmana (MAM, n = 51), Podolica (POD, n = 38), and a reference breed, the Brown Swiss (BRO, n = 56). The MAM breed showed the highest gene diversity over all loci (0.726), followed by the POD (0.719) and IST (0.659). The mean observed heterozygosity was 0.580 and it was lower than expected in all breeds. The IST breed appeared genetically very close to the Italian breeds, more similar to Podolian stereotype (POD and MAM; the genetic distances were 0.058 and 0.080, respectively) than to the geographically closer beef type breeds (CHI, MAC, and ROM), suggesting possible ancient trade of animals through the Adriatic Sea. Our results emphasize the importance of monitoring genetic variability in native populations both for conservation purposes and to maintain breed identity and genetic diversity.