Molecular insight into goat diversity

Archaeological and archaeozoological data indicate that goat (Capra hircus) has been the first domesticated livestock species. Molecular data place the most probable domestication site in Eastern Anatolia, although the pre-domestication management of C. aegagrus wild stocks possibly initiated in the Zagros Mountains, in Western Iran. Since then, goats have dispersed around the world accompanying human migrations, conquers and trades. Accordingly, microsatellite and AFLP markers reveal a strong geographic structure of goat nuclear DNA diversity and a decreasing gradient of goat diversity from the domestication site to Central Europe. The whole genome sequencing of goat genome has fostered the development of a SNP panel and the use of genomic technologies in this species. A focused analysis of Italian breeds with the International goat 50K SNPchip indicates that goat diversity has a strong geographic component also at a smaller geographic scale. In addition the SNP panel permits a finer analysis of the structure of goat genome, revealing admixture, blocks of LD and present and historical Ne The existing panel can be improved, however, by integrating additional whole genome sequences of goats from different geographic localities representing the areas of the domestication event(s) and potential agroclimatic adaptability. Part of this effort is being achieved by international projects (e.g. EU FP7 NextGen and 3SR projects), but the contribution of a larger number of samples (i.e. as in the 1000 cattle genomes initiative recently launched) is needed to reach a fair representation of the global diversity in goats.