Allele frequency in loci which control coat colours in Hucul horse population

Abstract

The objective of the study was to determine the frequency of alleles which produce coat colours in Hucul horse population in Poland. The breed is included in the Global Strategy for Management of Farm Animal Genetic Resources, hence its gene pool should remain in unaltered state. Huculs are bay, black, blue dun, yellow dun, tobiano, and chestnut. Grey and chestnut Huculs have always been undesirable. The material consisted of all 1022 matings which resulted in subpopulations recorded in Studbook volumes. The recessive allele frequency was estimated as the square root of recessive genotype frequencies in ASIP (A), MC1R (E), DUN (D), KIT (To region), and STX17 (G) loci. The frequency in A and E loci in total parental generation was also estimated in test matings. Genotype distribution in the population was anticipated according to gamete frequency in sires and dams. Small Wahlund effect, FST and ?2 values for allele distributions show that division into subpopulations did not influence the population genetic structure significantly. Mean recessive allele frequency in A, E, D, To, and G loci amounted to 0.521, 0.115, 0.878, 0.929, and 0.997, respectively, and in A and E loci it was similar to that assessed in test matings. More bay horses and fewer D diluted horses appeared in offspring than expected. A, e, d, and To allele frequency showed a rising tendency. The genetic structure in Hucul population is not constant and does not comply strictly with the preservation aim. Bay, non-diluted, and tobiano horses are preferred. The linkage between MC1R and KIT loci can make the selection against e allele difficult. Breeders' preferences may lead to undesired changes in the allele frequency. To avoid such risk, it is recommended to select horses strictly complying with the rules included in the breeding programme and mate the horses randomly from this aspect.