Genetic diversities and population structures of four popular Myanmar local cattle breeds

Local cattle breeds are popular in Myanmar because they make excellent draught animals, so it is of fundamental importance that their genetic diversities and population structures are elucidated for breeding and conservation purposes. In this study, we characterized the genetic diversities and population structures of four popular Myanmar local cattle breeds and five native cattle populations from neighboring countries (Bangladesh, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam) using the GGP Bovine 50K array. The mean observed and expected heterozygosity estimates using pruned datasets ranged from 0.317 and 0.322, respectively, in Cambodia to 0.448 and 0.421, respectively, in Vietnam South. The four Myanmar local breeds exhibited similar levels of genetic diversity. However, AMOVA revealed significant genetic differentiation among the nine populations (p