IRANIAN JOURNAL OF APPLIED ANIMAL SCIENCE
Year:2017 | Volume:7 | Issue:4 |Papers Count:20

Inbreeding depression is a harmful phenomenon in livestock which is outcome of inbreeding. Inbreeding is consequence mating between two individuals who are more related to each other than average relatedness in population, which results in reducing in fitness of progenies and genetic variability in populations. De-velopment of high-density genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) array facilitated inbreeding measurement as molecular data through calculating autozygosity region in individual genome. Autozygos-ity refer to chromosomal fragments that are identical-by-descent (IBD) and can be measured using runs of homozygosity (ROH). ROH is therefore defined as contiguous homozygous regions of the genome where two haplotypes inherited from the parents are IBD. The length and frequency of ROH may describe the history and recent bottlenecks in population and also revealed signatures of positive selection in population. Inbreeding coefficient can be derived from ROH (FROH), which is defined as total lengths of all ROH di-vided by the total autosomal genome length. A lot of studies calculated inbreeding level as FROH in human, cattle, pig, sheep, chicken and other farm animals through SNP array. In most of them, accuracy and pre-ciseness of FROH were confirmed in comparing to FPED, Some of them calculated inbreeding depression by using FROH and some other evaluated the relationship between ROH location with gene and quantitative trait locus (QTL) position on genome. These studies indicated that inbreeding levels in bovine and porcine popu-lations are much higher than those in human populations. Even though most of researches concluded that FROH can precisely calculated Inbreeding and it can be useful for estimating inbreeding coefficient in absent of pedigree, but some concern were exist in about of panel density, genotyping errors and undetected heterozygosity within continuous ROH which complicated identifying and quantifying ROH. In this review, run of homozygosity is defined and discussed in detail in human and livestock.

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of adding different levels of molasses (1-5%) on the silage quality, in vitro methane production and in vitro organic matter digestibility (IVOMD) of pista-chio (Pistachio vera) by-product and wheat straw mixture silages. For this purpose, silages were prepared with pistachio by-product (85%) and wheat straw (15%) without molasses (control group), and with addi-tion of molasses from 1% to 5% (treatment groups). All the treatments consisted of five replicate silos, and they were prepared in 1.5 L glass jar silos. While silage pH and acetic acid values decreased with addition of molasses levels (P<0.05), silage lactic acid values increased (P<0.05). Butyric and propionic acid were not detected in any of the silages. Addition of all levels of molasses increased in vitro methane production, IVOMD and metabolizable energy (ME) values (P<0.05). As a result, fresh pistachio by-product can be ensiled with addition of wheat straw and molasses to produce good quality silage. It can be concluded that this by product can be ensiled well and used as a roughage source with mixture of other roughage sources for animal nutrition in the regions where fresh pistachio by product is available.

Bovine mastitis (BM) is a prevalent condition on dairy farms, affecting both livestock health and reducing profitability. This study investigated the feasibility of diagnosing BM in Holstein dairy cattle using thermography. To increase the detection between healthy cattle and unhealthy one and to better compare the results from thermal images, a number of parameters including somatic cell count (SCC) and California mastitis test (CMT) were adopted. The result of non-parametric Spearman's Rho test showed that there was aninverse correlation (R=-0.97) between SSC factor and milk production records. Bovine Mastitis diagnosis results obtained from processing thermal images showed that the average temperature difference between unhealthy and healthy tissues was 0.44 °C. The detection accuracy of this method was 57.3%. The results from processing the thermal images showed that the thermal imaging camera was able to detect small tem-perature difference on the skin sometimes due to the effects of factors, such as non-uniform light irradiation and the presence or absence of hair or skin lesions on udder surface, which are not necessarily the studied factors. Therefore, it is suggested that parameters such as udder’s touching to groin, hair on udder, reduced light effect and skin lesions in order to improve the precision in the thermo graphic diagnosis of BM also be controlled future studies.

The objectives were to estimate (co) variance components and genetic parameters for lactation curve traits in Holstein dairy cows in Iran. The used data were records on Holstein cows collected during January 2003 to December 2012 by the Animal Breeding Center of Iran (Karaj, Iran). In order to describe the lactation curve, an incomplete gamma function was fitted to 691200 test-day records on 96263 lactations, 377696 test-day records on 52168 lactations, and 182143 test-day records on 24951 lactations for the first three parities, respectively. Lactation curve traits that were analyzed included a scaling factor associated with initial yield, the inclining and declining slopes of the curve, peak time, peak yield, 305-d milk yield and a lactation persistency measure derived from the incomplete gamma function. The estimated heritability of lactation curve traits for the first, second and third lactation ranged from 0.012 to 0.29, 0.017 to 0.15, and 0.02 to 0.13, respectively. Genetic correlations among lactation curve traits for the first, second and third lactation ranged from -0.68 to 0.99, -0.84 to 0.98 and -0.90 to 0.94, respectively. The estimated repeatabil-ity of lactation curve traits ranged from 0.07 to 0.40. The moderate to large positive genetic correlations of 305-d milk yield with initial yield, peak yield and lactation persistency suggest that one of these traits could be used as a selection criterion to improve all four traits. However, the peak yield and 305-d milk yield were more heritable than lactation were persistency and initial yield.

The chemical composition and in vitro gas production of some leguminous browse species were evaluated. Crude protein (CP) content was highest (P<0.05) in Pterocarpus erinaceus. Neutral detergent fibre, acid detergent fibre and total condensed tannins (TCT) were highest (P<0.05) in Erythrina senegalensis. Acid detergent lignin was greatest in Parkia biglobosa and lowest in Acacia seyal. In vitro organic matter de-gradability (IVOMD) was lowest and highest in Desmodium relatinum (11.87%) and Fadhebia albida (74.29%), respectively. Pterocarpus erinaceus had the highest volume of gas production (GP; 29.33 mg/200 g DM) while Parkia biglobosa had the least GP (2.00 mL/200 mg DM) at 96 h. The GP from the immediately soluble fraction (a) and volume of gas produced (mL) at time t (Y) were highest in Pterocar-pus erinaceus and Erythrina senegalensis. Gas production from the insoluble but degradable fraction (b) and potential GP (a+b) were greatest in Dicrostachys cinerea. Rate of GP (c) varied among the browses without a definite pattern. The CP of browses was positively significantly correlated with incubation period at all hours and fermentation characteristics (a, c and Y). Neutral detergent fibre (NDF) was positively cor-related with incubation periods and a, a+b and c. Acid detergent fibre (ADF) was negatively correlated with incubation hours but was positively related to gas fermentation characteristics. Acid detergent lignin (ADL) and IVOMD were weakly correlated with incubation hours but had a strong relationships with some gas fermentation characteristics. Total condensed tannins (TCT) showed a positive correlation with incuba-tion period at 6, 12, 24 and 96 h but their relationship with fermentation characteristics was positive and weak. Phenolic content was positive and strongly correlated with incubation period at 3, 6 12 and 24 h, a, c and Y. Based on their relatively high CP, moderate fibre levels and low condensed tannins contents, it can be concluded that the browse legume forages have nutritive potential as fodders for ruminants in tropical environment.

The aim of this study was to determine the effects of a bacterial inoculant and chemical additives on nutri-ent composition, in vitro degradation, total loss, aerobic stability, microbiological quality, and fermentative profile of sugarcane silage. Treatments were distributed to forty-eight mini-silos in a 2 ´ 4 factorial ar-rangement: two levels of microbial inoculant (INO, 0 or 4 g/t of fresh sugarcane and three chemical addi-tives (CHE, CaO, NaCl and urea at 10 g/kg on as-is basis). The association of INO and urea had the highest values of dry matter (DM) and neutral detergent fiber in vitro degradation. Treatments with inoculant and chemical additives reduced the gas loss (g/kg as-is basis). The association of INO and CHE increased the amounts of lactic acid bacteria. The association of INO and CHE resulted in a synergetic effect to decrease ethanol production and to increase lactic acid production. Inoculant and CHE showed a positive synergetic effect on total losses, dry matter recovery, microbiological profile, and production of ethanol and lactic acid. Treatments containing urea had greater DM in vitro degradation and aerobic stability compared with the other chemical additives. The association of INO and CHE positively affected the chemical composi-tion, in vitro degradation, total losses, aerobic stability, microbiological and fermentative profile of sugar-cane silage.

This experiment was conducted to compare the effect of supplementation of milk with thyme (THY) and oregano (ORE) essences separately or a mixture of THY and ORE essences on growth performance, hae-matological parameters and some blood metabolites of Holstein suckling calves. Forty-eight Holstein calves (48.31±5.82 kg) were randomly allocated to four treatments including (1) control without essential oil sup-plement; (2) THY oil mixed in milk at 5 mL/d/calf; (3) ORE oil mixed in milk at 5 mL/d/calf; (4) 2.5 mL THY oil+2.5 mL/d/calf ORE oil mixed in milk (TOM). According to the results, the experimental diets had no significant effect on body weight, average daily gain, and feed conversion rate in the entire experi-ment (P>0.05), although the parameters of starter and total feed intake were increased (P<0.0001) in the ORE and TOM groups. Values of packed cell volume, haemoglobin, mean corpuscular volume, and lym-phocyte percentage were increased (P<0.05) in the ORE group compared with the control. Also, our results demonstrate the supplementation of either oregano or thyme essential oils increased (P<0.05) serum iron concentration, alanine aminotransferase, and aspartate transaminase activities. Concentrations of total cho-lesterol and total triglyceride were decreased (P<0.05) in calves given both oils compared to the control group. Further confirmation of these results is warranted, and more research is needed to identify and clearly explain in the contribution of oregano or thyme oils (individual or mixtures); however our results suggested that oregano oil might be more useful as the promising feed additive for suckling calves nutrition.

The success of genomic selection mainly depends on the extent of linkage disequilibrium (LD) between markers and quantitative trait loci (QTL), number of QTL and heritability (h2) of the traits. The extent of LD depends on the genetic structure of the population and marker density. This study was conducted to determine the effects of marker density, level of heritability, number of QTL, and to compare the accuracy of predicting breeding values using two diverse approaches: GBLUP and BayesA using simulated data un-der two different distributions of the QTL effect. Thereby, three traits (milk production, carcass weight and mature body weight) were simulated with the heritability of 0.10, 0.30 and 0.50, respectively; for each ovine animal, a genome with three chromosomes, 100 cM each. Three different marker densities was con-sidered (1000, 2000 and 3000 markers) and the number of QTL was assumed to be either 100, 200 or 300. Data were simulated with two different distributions of the QTL effect which were uniform and gamma (a=1.66 and b=0.4) the marker density, number of the QTL, the QTL effect distributions and heritability levels significantly affected the accuracy of genomic breeding values (P<0.05). The BayesA produced esti-mates with greater accuracies in traits influenced by a low number of the QTL and with the gamma QTL effects distribution. Based on the findings of this simulation, heritability, as well as dense marker panels, aiming to increase the level of LD between the markers and QTL, is likely to be needed for successful im-plementation of the genomic selection.

This study was conducted in two experiments to evaluate the dietary physical form on dry matter intake (DMI), performance, carcass traits and nutrient digestibility from Kalkuhy (an Iranian fat–tailed breed) male lambs. Initial lamb body weight (BW) average was, 32.81 ± 2 kg, and 110 ± 10 days of age. Three treatments (diet physical form) included T1: total mixture diet (TMR) mixed diet (MD), T2: TMR blocked diet (BD) and T3: TMR pellet diets (PD) that were compared in completely randomized design. Diets had similar composition (80% concentrate to 20% forage). Average DMI of lambs fed by BD was significantly greater than MD diet (P<0.05). Average daily gain of lambs fed by BD was significantly greater than lambs fed MD and PD diets (P<0.05). Hot carcass and fat-tail lamb weights fed the BD treatment were signifi-cantly greater than lambs fed MD treatment (P<0.05). Nutrient digestibility was not affected by treatments. Dry matter, organic matter (OM) and crude protein (CP) digestion were not significantly greater for BD. In conclusion, blocking the complete diet for finishing fat-tailed lambs did not change final weight, feed con-version ratio (FCR) and nutrient digestibility, but increased DM intake, which in turn resulted in an in-creased energy available for fattening. As a result, lambs fed the BD treatment had heavier fat- tails com-pared to lambs fed either the PD or MD treatments. Hence, TMR block diet (BD) use for fattening Kalkuhy (Iranian fat–tailed breed) male lambs when providing them ad libitum access to feed wasn’t recommended.

A study was conducted to evaluate the effects of energy and protein levels of maternal diets on growth, some blood parameters, health, and performance of baby goat kids at first month of life. On 95 d after suc-cessful mating, 28 synchronized singleton pregnant Sistani goats were randomly allocated to four treat-ments including 1) low protein and low energy (LPLE), 2) high protein and low energy (HPLE), 3) low protein and high energy (LPHE), and 4) high protein and high energy (HPHE) diets. In all treatments, body weight (BW) reduced at 1d and 28 d after party. The birth BW of kids was similar between the four groups but LPLE, LPHE and HPHE had numerically lower birth weight. The kids from nanny goats fed on high protein diets had greater BW and average daily gain (ADG) than those of others on days 7, 14, 21, 28. Plasma triglyceride and total protein were significantly high in HPHE and glucose concentrations were in-creased in HPLE. Milk production increased in response to prepartum crude protein (CP). The results show that maternal nutrition had a positive effect on weight and biometric traits of kids.

Moroccan goats are characterized by the presence of different populations identified only based on their phenotypes. The objectives of this study were to assess the genetic differentiation of the Draa goat breed and to analyze its genetic structure and its relationships with other local populations using 12 microsatellite markers. The screening was done in South Eastern and Southern Morocco on 192 animals form 5 popula-tions, including Draa, Atlas, Barcha, Ghazzalia breeds, and from a set of goats showing highly variable phenotypes grouped together into "undefined goats" population. Population structure was assessed by stan-dard diversity indices, multivariate statistics, analysis of molecular variance and bayesian clustering tech-niques. The mean allelic richness was 6.526, varying from 2.777 to 9.669. More than 88.4% of the total variance was distributed between individuals and only 1.85% was due to differences between populations. The Draa breed had the lowest observed heterozygosity (0.579), the highest inbreeding coefficient (0.161) and a higher number of deviations from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. Moreover, it had the highest genetic distances from the other populations. Bayesian clustering showed a high level of admixture between popu-lations, with a single well defined cluster identifiable within Draa breed. It was concluded that the studied Moroccan goat populations have a substantial but weakly structured genetic diversity, with the exception of Draa breed which shows a higher degree of differentiation and population substructure.

The aim of this study was to define breeding goals and determine the suitable selection index in Rayeni cashmere goat using simulated data. To select animals for increased quantity of meat, milk and cashmere produced, body weight of the doe (BWD), milk weight (MW), cashmere weight (CW), weight of kids for sale (WK) and number of kids for sale per doe (NK) was used as selection criteria. Four selection indices were proposed (I1–I4) to compare genetic gain for all traits included in indices based on selection index. Maximum of genetic gain was calculated for 0.04 buck ratio with the full selection index (I1). So, the most suitable selection index for this breed is index 1 which included BWD, MW, CW, WK and NK.

Parentage testing is an important tool in farm animals for genetically determining the accuracy of pedigree information. The objective of the current study was to implication of multiplexing 14 microsatellite markers for routine parentage testings. The twenty-four lambs were crossbred of Ghazel × Baluchi, Ghazel × Balu-chi × Merinos, and Baluchi × Moghani × Merinos breeds. The genomic DNA was extracted from the whole blood samples and genotyped using fragment analysis method. The highest and the reproducible multiplex group appeared by grouping ILSTS0049, MCM512, BMC1009, BM148 and CSSM032 loci in 5-plex reac-tion. The markers were first evaluated based on the number of alleles, allelic frequency, polymorphism in-formation content (PIC), expected heterozygosity (HE), observed heterozygosity (HO) and the individual exclusion probability using popgene and cervus software. The average heterozygosity, polymorphism index content (PIC) and number of alleles per loci were 0.60, 0.58 and 4.93, respectively. The total exclusion probability of 14 microsatellite loci was 0.9999 in the population by compatibility according to the Mende-lian fashion. The pedigree was considered incorrect in one out of all the evaluated progeny, as the genotype of that progeny did not match to any of its parents. The results of our study suggest the multiplex microsa-tellite panel a fast, robust, reliable, and economically efficient tool to verify the parentage and hence it can be used in the routine parentage testing in sheep.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of copper (Cu) sulfate (0, 125 and 250 mg/kg), arginine (Arg) supplements (0, 0.1 and 0.2%) and glucosinolate content on performance and carcass traits in broiler chickens fed with canola meal based diet. During a three-week experimental period (22-42 d), 405 male broilers were used in completely randomized design with a 3 × 3 factorial experiment. Average daily gain and feed conversion ratio were significantly affected (P<0.05) by 250 mg/kg copper treatment. Canola meal treatments with Cu (P<0.01) and addition of 0.2% Arg (P<0.05) significantly increased the proportion of breast muscle. Also, the relative thigh weight was significantly affected by 250 mg/kg copper treatment and 0.2% arginine supplementation (P<0.05). The 0.2% Arg supplementation significantly decreased the pro-portion of abdominal fat (P<0.01), lung weight (P<0.05) and conversely increased the proportion of duode-num (P<0.05) and jejunum (P<0.01). Cecal relative weight was the lowest (P<0.05) in broilers fed diets based on canola meal treated with 250 mg/kg Cu. In conclusion, the results of this study show that treat-ments of canola meal with copper sulfate could alleviate adverse effects of glucosinolate on broilers per-formance. Moreover, these findings suggest that addition of 0.2% Arg able to change energy partitioning toward protein deposition and reduced abdominal fat pads.

The present study was conducted to investigate the effect of dietary supplementation of turmeric (TEO) and rosemary (REO) essential oils on growth performance and oxidative stability of broiler meat. Five hundred forty day-old chickens (Cobb 500) were randomly allotted to a 3 × 3 factorial arrangement with three levels of turmeric essential oil (T1=0, T2=75 and T3=150 mg/kg) and three levels of rosemary essential oil (R1=0, R2=100, and R3=200 mg/kg), with 4 replicates of 15 chickens. The combination of the essential oils, R2T3 and R3T3 improved (P<0.05) body weight gain compared to control group, during the first 3 wk of the trial. Control group had the lowest feed conversion ratio (P<0.05) compared to the other treatments with the ex-ception of R1T2, R2T3 and R3T1 groups during of grower period (22-42d) and total period (1-42d). The highest values of the relative weights of carcass and thigh muscle achieved by birds fed 75 and 150 mg TEO supplementation respectively. Adding TEO supplementation to the diets significantly reduced (P<0.05) pancreas, proventriculus, gizzard and crop relative weights. The highest value of relative weight of liver was achieved by birds fed control diet compared to the birds fed other diets. With the exception of R3T2 and R3T3 groups, all of the treatments had a significant different (P<0.05) in malondialdehyde (MDA) value compared to control group after days 30 of storage at -20 °C. The birds fed supplementation of R1T2, R2T2, R3T3 and R3T1 showed lower levels of MDA values (P<0.05) in the breast meat compared to control group after days 60 of preservation at -20 °C. It was concluded that adding REO and TEO to the feed did not improve the broiler chicken’s performance, whereas these feed additives had great potential to improve oxidative stability of breast meat and reduced the concentration of MDA after days 30 and 60 of preservation at -20 °C.

This experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of in ovo injection (IOI) of calcium carbonate nano-particles (CCN) on post-hatch bone and blood parameters and performance of broiler chickens. Fertile eggs (n=400) were distributed into 4 groups of 100 eggs. On the first day of incubation, 2 groups were injected with 0.5 mL of either 100 or 200 ppm CCN/egg dissolved in normal saline and two groups were used as sham control (injected with 0.5 mL normal saline) or un-injected control. The hatched chicks from each group were randomly assigned to 4 replications of 15 chickens and reared under standard condition. The results demonstrated that body weight, spleen weight, and bone Ca concentration of hatched chickens was higher by IOI of 200 ppm/egg CCN (P<0.05). The highest bursa weight was obtained by IOI of 200 ppm/egg CCN (P<0.05). The IOI of CCN at levels of 100 or 200 ppm/egg was significantly increased plasma alkaline phosphatase activity and bone Cu concentration of hatched chickens (P<0.05). Moreover, IOI had no significant effects on performance at 1 to 21 days of age (P<0.05). These preliminary results suggest that growth and development of bone may accelerate through IOI of CCN at levels of 100 or 200 ppm/egg on 1-d of incubation.

This study was aimed to investigate the effects of encapsulated nano- and microparticles of peppermint (Mentha piperita) extract on the growth performance, blood parameters and immune system of broilers under heat stress conditions. In total, 320 one-day-old broilers (Ross, 308) were assigned into 4 experimen-tal treatments: the control, peppermint alcoholic extract (PE, 200 ppm/kg body weight (BW)), encapsulated nanoparticles of peppermint alcoholic extract (ENPE, 200 ppm/kg BW), and encapsulated micro particles of peppermint alcoholic extract (EMPE, 200 ppm/kg BW). Each treatment consisted of 4 replicates with 20 chicks. Results showed PE, ENPE and EMPE treatments significantly improved feed conversion ratio (FCR). The birds administered by PE, ENPE and EMPE had significantly higher blood serum, total protein, albumin and globulin. Administration of PE, ENPE and EMPE resulted in lower total cholesterol, very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), LDL: HDL ratio and triglyceride, and higher levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL). The birds treated by peppermint had higher bursa relative weight, in particular, in those that received ENPE and EMPE than control. Treated birds with PE, ENPE and EMPE showed significantly lower H: L ratio. The serum antibody titers against sheep red blood cells (SRBC) were significantly higher in birds administrated by PE, ENPE and EMPE. Birds receiving ENPE and EMPE treatments had significantly higher titers of IgG for primary and secondary responses than that of those receiving the other treatments. In general, this study indicated that encapsulated nano- and micro particles of peppermint alcoholic extract have potential to improve the immunity and growth performance of broilers under heat stress conditions.

The avian uncoupling protein (avUCP) is a member of the mitochondrial transporter superfamily that un-couples proton entry in the mitochondrial matrix from ATP synthesis. The polymerase chain reaction re-striction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method was used to estimate the allele and genotype frequencies of the UCP/ HhaI polymorphisms and to determine associations between these polymorphisms and the growth traits, breeding value of growth and reproductive traits in the Fars indigenous chicken. For this purpose phenotype information of 18 successive generations from 200 birds were analyzed using a univariate animal model in ASREML procedure. The evaluation of the association between this single nu-cleotide polymorphisms (SNP) with reproductive traits suggests a positive effect of TC genotype with age at first egg (ASM) compared with CC genotype. In addition, TC genotype was significantly associated with the breeding value of age at first egg compared with the CC genotype (P<0.05). In conclusion, our results suggest that the TC genotype of the UCP gene is associated with age at sexual maturity (ASM) and breed-ing value of age at sexual maturity and UCP polymorphisms may be used as DNA markers for selection in the breeding process of the Fars indigenous chicken.

This experiment was conducted to determine the effects of oyster mushroom on performance and blood biochemical characteristics in Japanese quails (Coturnix Japonica). A total of 240 seven day old mix sexes quail chicks were randomly allocated to four experimental groups. Each treatment consisted of three repli-cate pens with 20 birds. Experimental groups included 0, 0.5, 1, 2% oyster mushroom in quail diet. Each replicate was housed in separate stainless floor pens under controlled temperature and light conditions. On 21st days of age, male and female chicks were separated. Weight gain, feed intake and feed conversion ratio were not significantly influenced by the dietary treatments. Total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), low-density lipoprotein (LDL) significantly decreased (P<0.05) and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol significantly increased (P<0.05) by the 2% diet contain mushroom compared to the control, but plasma glucose, uric acid, total protein of quails were not significantly influenced by the dietary treatments. Inclu-sion of 2% mushroom in the diet, positively affected blood biochemical characteristics of quails. Therefore it seems that mushroom may be a beneficial component in quail diet.

Iranian bactrian camel (Camelus bactrianus) is an endangered livestock breed with distribution in northwest of Iran. Microsatellites are a powerful marker for animal genetic and cell line identification and population genetic study. In this study, after producing more than 40 Camelus bactrianus fibroblast cell lines, microsa-tellites loci from the genome of Iranian Camelus bactrianus cell lines were identified using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) -based isolation of microsatellite arrays (PIMA) methods for genetic resources studies. PIMA is a relatively simple method which avoids not only library construction, but also radioactivity ma-nipulation. Four polymorphic microsatellite loci (IBRC01 to IBRC04) were identified. Polymorphism of these new loci was assessed in 40 samples of Iranian bactrian camel. Number of alleles ranged from 3 to 5, observed and expected heterozygosity varied from 0.625 to 0.71 and from 0.642 to 0.807 and Shannon in-dex from 0.89 to 1.603, respectively. The phylogeny analysis of all sequences indicated that breeds and species were grouped according to their geographic locations except a few sequences. These newly isolated polymorphic microsatellite markers would be useful tools for conservation genetic resources and population genetic studies and assessing genetic variations to establish a conservation strategy of this endangered spe-cies.