Microsatelite diversity of Bosnian-Herzegovinian-Croatian shepherd dog Tornjak

This paper presents the first estimation of polymorphism of the Bosnian-Herzegovinian- Croatian Shepherd dog Tornjak in Bosnia and Herzegovina using 10 microsatellite loci, which are an integral part of StockMarks® for Canine Genotyping Kit (Applied Biosystems, Foster City, CA, USA). Ten microsatellite loci used in this study are appropriate for assessing the genetic diversity of this breed. Measures of genetic diversity were estimated based on allelic and genotypic calculations, observed (HO) and expected (HE) heterozygosities, deviations from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium and polymorphism information content (PIC). The lowest genetic diversity was estimated for locus PEZ20, and the highest for PEZ6 locus. Observed and expected mean heterozygosities were 0.7261 and 0.7392, respectively. Statistically significant deviation (p<0.05) from Hardy- Weinberg equilibrium was found for PEZ1, PEZ12, PEZ3 and PEZ6 loci. The PIC values suggested that all markers (100%) are very informative (PIC > 0.5) in terms of their suitability for genetic diversity studies. When all observed parameters are taken into account (observed and expected heterozygosities, PIC, number of detective and effective alleles, number of detected and maximum possible genotypes, major allele frequency and major allele frequency index), we can conclude that PEZ6 locus shows the highest genetic diversity while PEZ3 displays the lowest. However, assuming values of observed and expected heterozygosities, as well as PIC, we consider loci PEZ20 to be the least diverse, but this locus has more effective alleles and more genotypes present than PEZ3. These preliminary results are the first genetic diversity survey of the Bosnian- Herzegovinian-Croatian Shepherd dog Tornjak in Bosnia and Herzegovina and could be useful to the dog breeders in designing and managing breeding strategies. Summarizing the information above, we can conclude that the population of the Bosnian- Herzegovinian-Croatian Shepherd dog Tornjak from B&H is not affected by substantial loss of genetic diversity. Results of our study indicate presence of reasonably high level of genetic variability and lead to a better understanding of this dog breed.