Genetic Characterization of Cleveland Bay Horse Breed

The Cleveland Bay (CB) is the United Kingdom’s oldest established horse breed. In this study we analyzed the genetic variability in CB horses and investigated its genetic relationships with other horse breeds. We examined the genetic variability among 90 CB horses sampled in the USA compared to a to...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inDiversity (Basel) Vol. 11; no. 10; p. 174
Main Authors Khanshour, Anas M., Hempsey, Eleanore K., Juras, Rytis, Cothran, E. Gus
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Basel MDPI AG 2019
Subjects
Animals
Communication
Genetic analysis
Genetic diversity
Genetic relationship
Genetic resources
Genetic variability
Horses
inbred horse
microsatellite
Microsatellites
Population genetics
Population structure
warmblood horse
United Kingdom > UK
United States > US
North America
Texas
Europe
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Summary:The Cleveland Bay (CB) is the United Kingdom’s oldest established horse breed. In this study we analyzed the genetic variability in CB horses and investigated its genetic relationships with other horse breeds. We examined the genetic variability among 90 CB horses sampled in the USA compared to a total of 3447 horses from 59 other breeds. Analysis of the genetic diversity and population structure was carried out using 15 microsatellite loci. We found that genetic diversity in CB horses was less than that for the majority of other tested breeds. The genetic similarity measures showed no direct relationship between the CB and Thoroughbred but suggested the Turkman horses (likely in the lineage of ancestors of the Thoroughbred) as a possible ancestor. Our findings reveal the genetic uniqueness of the CB breed and indicate its need to be preserved as a genetic resource.
ISSN:1424-2818
1424-2818
DOI:10.3390/d11100174