Genetic distances and phylogenetic trees of different Awassi sheep populations based on DNA sequencing

Abstract Text: Thirty-two sheep individuals from Jordan and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) were randomly sampled in order to reconstruct phylogeny trees. A  region of nuclear DNA  sequenced using the T7 promoter. phylogenetic trees were reconstructed from 0.64 kb DNA sequences using maximum likelihood, neighbor-joining and UPGMA trees. The maximum likelihood tree indicated three major clusters separated by cytosine (C) and thymine (T). The greatest distance was shown between the South sheep and North sheep. On the other hand, the KSA sheep showed shorter evolutionary distance to the North sheep than to the others. The neighbor-joining and UPGMA trees showed quite reliable clusters of evolutionary differentiation of Jordan sheep from the Saudi sheep. The overall results support geographical information and ecotypes of the sheep populations studied and provide information about the genetic relatedness and phylogeny of Awassi sheep in nearby Arab countries.

Keywords:

Phylogeny

Awassi sheep

DNA sequences