S. L. Kacirek,
K. M. Irvin 1,
P. I. Dimsoski,
M. E. Davis,
H. C. Hines
The Ohio State University Department of Animal Sciences
This study utilizes 17 highly polymorphic microsatellites to study the relationship between the Large White and Yorkshire breeds. These breeds originally developed from a single breed in England, where it was called the Large White breed. This breed was brought into the United States during the 19th century, where the name was changed to Yorkshire. The U.S. and English lines have had limited contact until recent years. Because of their history, it is questioned whether these two breeds represent different gene pools, as they concurrently developed from differing selection schemes and in varying environments. The Hampshire breed was included in the analysis because it serves as a potentially unrelated reference breed that could be used to more clearly define the relationship between the Large White and Yorkshire breeds. Calculations such as heterozygosity levels, Fst values, and Nei's genetic identity and distance were made from the allele frequencies in each breed. Fst values indicated that differentiation between the Large White and Yorkshire breeds was moderate. Genetic distances indicated the breeds were related in the following order (from most to least): Yorkshire, Large White, and Hampshire. The distance between the Large White and Yorkshire population was smaller than the distances between other breed pairs. Therefore, we concluded that the Large White and Yorkshire breeds are highly similar, but represent separate populations that have evolved from one another over the last 100 years.
1For more information, contact at: The Ohio State University, 110F Animal Science Building, 2029 Fyffe Road, Columbus, OH 43210; 614-292-6407; fax: 614-292-2929 ; e-mail: irvin.3@osu.edu