Design of a DNA panel for genomic studies in Russian cattle breeds

A panel of 96 DNA samples (Russian Cattle Genomic Diversity Panel 1.0 or RCGDP 1.0) characterizing the breadth of genetic diversity in popular Russian cattle breeds was designed. The panel contains from four to eight animals from each of 11 dairy and six dairy-meat and meat breeds. The main criterion for inclusion of individual animals in the panel was that they had, according to the pedigree data, the greatest number of unrelated haploid genomes. The resulting panel of 96 animals was estimated to contain 186.1 unshared haploid genomes and was expected to allow a 95% probability of detecting alleles with a frequency greater than 0.016 in the group. This is comparable to the USDA MARC Beef Cattle Diversity Panel version 2.1. Analysis of three SNPs in the Galloway, Hereford, Grey Ukrainian and Black Pied breeds showed no significant differences in the allele frequencies between the animals in the panel and in the herds. Thus, the designed DNA panel may be useful for SNP selection in the genetic analysis of economically important traits, for identification of purebred and hybrid animals, and, probably, for tentative estimation of allele frequencies in the populations.