RESUMO Objetivou-se com este trabalho realizar o inventário do ecótipo Gurgueia no Estado do Piauí, na região Nordeste do Brasil. O inventário compreendeu o levantamento histórico, com busca em literaturas, e o populacional feito a partir de visitas in loco nos rebanhos. Foi tomado em cada rebanho a localização geográfica por meio o por GPS e contagem dos animais com padrão fenotípico Gurgueia para classifica-la quanto ao risco de extinção. Observou-se a presença dos caracteres barba, chifres, brincos, os padrões de cor ruão, agouti e chocolate, e a presença de orelha reduzida que foram submetidos à análise descritivas simples. A literatura regional consultada não apresentou consistência sobre a origem do caprino Gurgueia no Piauí, mas indicaram que rebanhos instalados no vale do rio Gurgueia no Sul do Piauí, deram origem aos hoje classificados como Gurgueia. No estudo, houve a confirmação de poucos exemplares, apenas 119, dispersos em três microrregiões revelando que grupo genético Gurgueia está em situação crítica de desaparecimento. Nestes animais, observa-se alta frequência da ausência de brincos e do caráter presença de chifre (0,95). A frequência de barba foi de 0,52 e não houve ocorrência de pelos longos, indicando ausência da relação entre esses caracteres. O caráter ruão (0,96), a pelagem chocolate e padrão não-agouti (cor única) não estiveram presentes assim como a presença de orelha reduzida. O estudo pode apontar também que os caprinos Gurgueia apresentam-se em situação instável, já que a sua presença nos rebanhos está associada a outros tipos raciais.

SUMMARY The purpose of this study was to conduct the inventory of goat breed Gurgueia in the state of Piauí, Northeast region of Brazil. The inventory includes a historical survey - made by searching in the literature - and a population survey - made by gathering in loco information. The geographic location through GPS was taken in farms sheltering Gurgueia goats and then individuals Gurgueia were counted to estimate population size and classifying the risk of extinction. To characterize the Gurgueia breed, the presence of beard, horns, earrings, patterns of color roan, agouti and brown, and the presence of reduced ear were observed to perform simple descriptive analysis. The regional literature demonstrates lack of consistency about the origin of the Gurgueia breed. However, flocks of goats in the Gurgueia river valley, in Southern Piauí, gave origin to the breed denomination. The present study found out 119 Gurgueia individuals scattered in three micro-regions - classifying the Gurgueia breed as critically endangered. The morphological analysis shows low frequency of earrings (0,05) and high frequency of horn (0.95) in Gurgéia individuals. The beard frequency was 0.52 and was verified absence of long hairs, indicating no relationship between those. The analysis showed high frequency of roan pattern (0.96), absence of brown and single coat pattern (non-agouti). Reduced ear was absent. This inventory appointed that Gurgueia risk of endangerment is unstable, since its presence within herds is mixed with other breed types.

The aim of this study was to compare the genetic diversity of 12 populations of goats in Brazil and Morocco (n = 796) through the use of physical measurements and different multivariate techniques. Traits measured included wither height (WH), distance from the brisket to the ground (BH) and ear length (EL). The standardized Euclidean distance (D) was adopted. The D values were submitted to clustering analysis using hierarchical methods (from nearest neighbor and UPGMA - Unweighted Pair Group Method with Arithmetic Mean) and the numbers of clusters were analyzed using the Tocher optimization method. The population clustering was different depending on the method of analysis used. Among the hierarchical methods, UPGMA showed the best fit (CCC = 0.82). The Tocher method enabled the formation of four different clusters. Although the hierarchical and Tocher methods resulted in different cluster formations, both contributed to the interpretation of the genetic cluster divergence. The results obtained through UPGMA and Tocher optimization enable their use for future studies that may include a larger number of biometric variables on greater numbers of individuals and additional populations.

Um total de 292 animais de três raças (leiteiras Alpina e Saanen e a raça brasileira naturalizada Moxotó) foram genotipados, compreendendo 276 casos de paternidade. As análises estatísticas foram realizadas nos programas TFPGA e CERVUS. A heterozigosidade esperada variou de 0,542 (ILSTS005) a 0,825 (INRA006), com média de 0,717 para todos os loci. O conteúdo de informação polimórfica (Polymorphic information content, PIC) para todos os loci, foi de 0,676 e 0,542 e a probabilidade de exclusão (EP), de 0,999591 e 0,988375 para casos em que o genótipo materno era conhecido e desconhecido, respectivamente. A taxa de erro de identificação de paternidade é de 10% nos registros avaliados.

A total of 292 animals from three breeds (Alpine and Saanen dairy breeds, and the Brazilian naturalized breed Moxotó) were genotyped, comprising 276 paternity cases. Statistical analyses were carried out by using TFPGA and CERVUS programs. Heterozygosis ranged from 0.542 (ILSTS005) to 0.825 (INRA006), with an average of 0.717 for all loci. Polymorphic information content (PIC) was 0.676 and 0.542, and combined exclusion probabilities (EP) were 0.999591 and 0.988375 for known and unknown maternal genotypes, respectively. The microsatellite system reveals 10% of paternity misidentification in evaluated registers.

Estudou-se a diversidade genética de pacas (Agouti paca) de três plantéis comerciais no Brasil. Como o genoma desta espécie é desconhecido, utilizaram-se o polimorfismo de DNA amplificado ao acaso e reação em cadeia da polimerase (RAPD-PCR). Dez primers selecionados geraram 60 bandas polimórficas. A variabilidade genética inter e intrapopulações estimada pela análise de variância molecular (AMOVA) foi de 12,55 e 87,45%, respectivamente. A menor distância de Nei encontrada foi de 11,76% entre as populações de Carangola (CG) e São Francisco do Glória (SF). Este valor pode ser explicado pelo intercâmbio de matrizes e reprodutores que já ocorre entre esses dois criatórios geograficamente próximos entre si. Na análise dos componentes principais, foram observados grupos bem estruturados e definidos, agregando indivíduos à sua população de origem, com algumas exceções. A diversidade foi menor na população São Francisco que em Carangola e Castelo (CS). Esse resultado sugere que, em criatórios com 5 a 6 dezenas de animais (CG e CS), a variabilidade se mantém melhor que naquele com cerca de uma dúzia de animais (SF). A técnica de RAPD-PCR mostrou-se informativa para quantificar a variabilidade genética entre e intrapopulações de pacas. O fenograma gerado pelo método UPGMA por meio do programa NTSYS-PC a partir da distância de Nei agrupou CG e SF num mesmo ramo e este ligado ao CS, com acurácia de 76 e 100%, respectivamente, ao bootstrap. Esse resultado condiz com as informações geográficas e o histórico dos rebanhos e mostra a necessidade de substituição periódica de machos reprodutores. Mais estudos devem ser desenvolvidos com marcadores codominantes e com pacas de localidades mais distintas.

The genetic diversity was analyzed among spotted paca (Agouti paca) from three commercial flocks located in Brazil. As the genome of this species is unknown, the RAPD-PCR technique was used. Ten primers generated sixty polymorphic bands. The among and within population genetic variability estimated by analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) was 12.55 and 87.45%, respectively. The shortest Nei distance value was 11.76% among the Carangola (CG) and São Francisco do Glória (SF) populations. This value can be explained by the exchange of reproduction males and females between the two geographically close breeding sites. The analysis of principal components showed well defined and structured groups aggregating animals according their population of origin, with some exceptions. Lower diversity was found in the São Francisco population than in the Carangola and Castelo (CS) populations. This result suggested the variability is better conserved in breeding farms with fifty or sixty animals (CG and CS) than in the breeding farm with a dozen animals (SF). The RADP-PCR technique proved to be informative for the quantification of among and within population genetic variability of the spotted paca. The phenogram generated by UPGMA using the NTSYS-PC software from the Nei Distance, grouped CG and SF on a single branch connected to the CS, with 76 and 100% accuracy, respectively, to the bootstrap. This result was not only consistent with the historical and geographical information on flocks, but also shows the need for periodic reproductive male replacement. Future studies should be developed with co-dominant markers and include spotted paca from more distant places.

The genetic relationships and structure of fourteen goat (Capra hircus) populations were estimated based on genotyping data from 14 goat populations (n = 410 goats) at 13 microsatellite loci. We used analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA), principal component analysis (PCA) and F statistics (F IS, F IT and F ST) to evaluate the genetic diversity (Ho, He and ad) of the goats. Genetic distances between the 14 goat populations were calculated from allelic frequency data for the 13 microsatellite markers. Moderate differentiation was observed for the populations of the undefined breeds (including the Anglo-Nubian-M breed), the naturalized Brazilian breeds (Moxotó, Canindé), the exotic purebred breeds (Alpine, Saanen, Toggenbourg and Anglo-Nubian) and the naturalized Brazilian Graúna group. Our AMOVA showed that a major portion (88.51%) of the total genetic variation resulted from differences between individual goats within populations, while between-populations variation accounted for the remaining 11.49% of genetic variation. We used a Reynolds genetic distance matrix and PCA to produce a phenogram based on the 14 goat populations and found three clusters, or groups, consisting of the goats belonging to the undefined breed, the naturalized breeds and the exotic purebred breeds. The closer proximity of the Canindé breed from the Brazilian state of Paraíba to the Graúna breed from the same state than to the genetically conserved Canindé breed from the Brazilian state of Ceará, as well as the heterozygosity values and significant deviations from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium suggests that there was a high number of homozygotes in the populations studied, and indicates the importance of the State for the conservation of the local breeds. Cataloguing the genetic profile of Brazilian goat populations provides essential information for conservation and genetic improvements programs.