Evaluation of Microsatellite Polymorphism and Genetic Variability in Thai Ridgeback and Bangkaew Dogs

The origin of dogs came from the limited number of founders leading to inbreeding or genetic disease within or among breeds. Thai Ridgeback (TR) and Bangkaew (BK) dogs were the only native dog breeds that we believed to originate in Thailand. The study of genetic variability in Thai dogs (39 Thai Ridgeback dogs, 82 Bangkaew dogs) was defined by using 12 microsatellite markers. These DNA markers were highly informative and distributed through the canine genome. The result from these markers revealed the higher number of alleles, observed heterozygosity (Ho), expected heterozygosity (He) and polymorphic information content (PIC) in TR and BK dogs. The average Ho, He and PIC were 0.72, 0.77, 0.73 in Bangkaew and 0.81, 0.78, 0.75 in Thai Ridgeback dogs. The average inbreeding coefficient was 0.072 and-0.019 in Bangkaew and Thai Ridgeback dogs, respectively. The low and negative inbreeding coefficient values revealed no inbreeding problem especially in Thai Ridgeback dog. The information generated in this study could be used for further genetic study in Thai dogs and to investigate th