Use of Microsatellites in Genetic Diversity Assessment, Parentage Testing and Individual Identification of the Kangal Shepherd Dog

The Kangal Shepherd Dog is considered the most common dog breed of Turkish origin. This study investigated variations in ten autosomal microsatellite markers (PEZ01, PEZ03, PEZ05, PEZ06, PEZ08, PEZ12, PEZ20, FHC2010, FHC2054 and FHC2079) for the purposes of genetic diversity assessment of the Kangal breed. In addition, the use of markers was assessed in parentage testing and individual identification within the Kangal breed. The microsatellite markers were typed in 51 Kangal dogs. The total number of alleles in the study population was 69. The mean number of alleles per locus was 6.9, and varied from four (FHC2079) to 12 (PEZ12). The polymorphic information content (PIC) ranged from 0.52 (FHC2079) to 0.87 (PEZ12), with the mean value for all loci of 0.717. Power of exclusion (PE) in 10 microsatellites investigated varied between 0.143 (FHC2054) and 0.472 (PEZ08) per locus. In order to determine the efficiency of using microsatellites for individual identification in the Kangal breed, power of discrimination (PD) and matching probability (MP) were calculated for each microsatellite marker. The panel achieved high combined MP (6.77 × 10^-10) and high combined PD value of 99.99999%. The obtained results may contribute to further recognition of the Kangal breed, and confirm that the investigated microsatellites enable a reliable parentage testing and individual identification of the breed.