Nuclear and Mitochondrial Marker-Based Population Structure of the Goats in the Urals and the Central Region of Russia

Population genetic studies of domesticated species provide the information on the species history and the current status of genetic resources. The goat is one of the first farm animal species to be domesticated by humans, and it is also of interest as an object of population studies. The species is characterized by high biodiversity, represented by native and transboundary breeds. In Russia, most goats are raised at small private farms, where animals have not been subjected to strict pressure of artificial selection and are, in fact, a unique object for research. Unlike the pedigree down goats, whose populations are located at the southern and southeastern borders of the country, the genetic diversity of animals from the main, central part of the country has not been characterized previously. At the “Shakhovskaya” research station of the Institute of General Genetics, Russian Academy of Sciences, a population was formed based on animals raised in the traditional way at private farms in rural areas on the border of Moscow, Tver, and Smolensk oblasts. In this study, population genetic analysis of this population and the populations from two mining and metallurgical regions of the Urals was carried out, and these populations were compared with the existing commercial breeds of different productivity directions.