A genome-wide perspective on the population structure of Italian cattle breeds

Despite the growing diffusion of cosmopolite specialized breeds, several autochthonous cattle breeds and populations are still bred in Italy. The aim of this study was to provide a high-resolution picture of the genome-wide diversity and population structure of Italian local cattle breeds using medium-density genome-wide SNP markers. After data editing, the dataset included 800 samples from 32 breeds that were genotyped for 31 013 SNPs. For several breeds we observed a low level of polymorphism and genetic diversity, that together with the small effective population sizes confirmed threat of extinction. According to the runs of homozygosity analysis, evidence of recent inbreeding was strong…