Comparison of genetic diversity in dual-purpose and beef Pinzgau populations

Abstract

The aim of the study was to evaluate the genetic diversity in Slovak dual-purpose (dairy) and beef Pinzgau cattle. Reference population consisted of 3425 living cows (of those 2501 dairy and 924 suckler cows) involved in animal recording. The average number of fully generations traced was 0.99 and 1.17 in dairy and suckler cows, respectively and the average complete generations equivalent was 2.78 in dairy population and 3.19 in beef population. Inbreeding coefficient was computed from three, five, seven and ten generations traced. The results of inbreeding analysis show increasing trend of inbreeding coefficient with increasing number of generations traced taken into account. The average inbreeding coefficient F₅ was 0.3599% and 0.1112% in dairy and beef reference populations, respectively. The difference between inbreeding coefficient F₃and F₁₀ was 0.0778% in dairy cows and 0.0537% in suckler cows. The difference between F₇ and F₁₀ values was minimal. Overall, inbreeding level in dairy population was higher than in beef population. The average increase in inbreeding was 0.2070% in dairy and 0.0402% in beef population. The effective number of founders, effective number of ancestors and effective number of founder genomes was 210; 82 and 63.49 in dairy population, respectively and 293; 95 and 60.62 in beef population, respectively. These results point out bottleneck effect occurance in given populations. Further population reduction can lead to serious inbreeding problems. Regular monitoring of genetic diversity including inbreeding trends is necessary to use this information in population management.