Genetic diversity of domestic reindeer by markers of two types

Abstract. The purpose of the study was to evaluate and compare the genetic diversity of populations of domestic reindeer by hereditary polymorphism of proteins and ISSR DNA fragments. Methodology and methods. The polymorphism of proteins and enzymes was studied by electrophoresis in starch and polyacrylamide gels. Polymorphism of ISSR DNA fragments was studied by the standard method of flanking by inverted repetition of microsatellite loci of DNA sites. Data processing and plotting were performed using standard computer programs Gclstats, Genepop, Exsel. Results. According to the transferrin locus (Tf), nine alleles were identified in the deer of the Little-Earth and Big-Earth tundra. Island Kolguev and mainland Chukchi deer have five and seven alleles, respectively. According to the allelic diversity of hepatic esterase (Est-P3) and ISSR DNA fragments, the examined populations did not differ. Judging by the values of the Shannon indices and effective elements, the level of genetic diversity of the Chukchi mainland tundra and Kolguev Island populations was lower than that of the Eastern European tundra mainland populations. Relative to the reindeer of the mainland tundra of Eastern Europe, the Chukchi mainland and Kolguev island populations diverged in opposite directions according to the frequencies of 10 out of 11 ISSR DNA fragments, Est-P3 alleles, as well as rare Tf alleles. Comparison of estimates of genetic diversity by different types of markers in the examined populations using Shannon indices and effective elements gave ambiguous results. Scientific novelty. According to the level of genetic diversity in the time interval of 40–50 years, similar trends in the divergence of the mainland Chukchi and island Kolguev populations relative to the mainland populations of the Little and Big-Earth tundra of Eastern Europe were revealed.