Genetic Diversity and Population Structure of Fat-Tailed Coarse-Wooled Sheep Breeds Ovis aries from Kazakhstan

Abstract

Sheep are one of the most important farm animals in Kazakhstan, where traditional breeds such as Edilbay, Kazakh fat-tailed coarse-wooled, and Gissar are still widely raised. However, little is known about their genetic background. In this study, we examined maternal DNA from these breeds to better understand their diversity and origins. We found that they carry many different genetic types, showing both rich diversity and shared ancestry. Most of the genetic variation was found within breeds rather than between them, which suggests that these sheep have a long history of mixing and exchange. Interestingly, the Edilbay breed appears to preserve ancient maternal lineages that connect modern sheep to their wild relatives. Our findings highlight Kazakhstan as an important region in sheep history and emphasize the need to conserve the genetic diversity of its traditional breeds. Keywords: domestic sheep, Central Asia, mtDNA, genetic diversity, population dynamics