{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,29]],"date-time":"2026-05-29T18:48:56Z","timestamp":1780080536730,"version":"3.54.0"},"reference-count":38,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"18","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,14]],"date-time":"2025-09-14T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1757808000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001809","name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["3226040101"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["3226040101"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001809","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001809","name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["2022D01A168"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2022D01A168"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001809","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100009110","name":"Natural Science Foundation of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["3226040101"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["3226040101"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100009110","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100009110","name":"Natural Science Foundation of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["2022D01A168"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2022D01A168"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100009110","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Animals"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The study of horse genetic diversity is imperative for informing conservation strategies, safeguarding ancestral lineages, and enhancing breed adaptability to environmental and disease pressures. This study employed 13 microsatellite markers with fluorescent-labeled capillary electrophoresis to analyze the genetic diversity of the Kyrgyz horse (n = 30) and Barkol horse (n = 30) for the first time, comparing them with three other indigenous horse breeds (n = 30 per breed) from Xinjiang, China. A total of 208 alleles were detected. The Polymorphic Information Content (PIC) results from GenAlEx 6.5115 show that all loci, except for the HTG06 locus in the Yanqi horse races, were highly polymorphic (PIC &gt; 0.5), indicating a high level of genetic diversity across the five races. Among the five races, the Kyrgyz horse exhibited the lowest mean values for the effective number of alleles (Ne), observed heterozygosity (Ho), and expected heterozygosity (He), which were 6.025, 0.737, and 0.810, respectively. In contrast, the Barkol horse showed the highest mean number of alleles (Na), Ne, and He values, at 11.308, 6.330, and 0.816, respectively. Principal Coordinate Analysis (PCoA), performed using GenAlEx 6.5115, revealed the smallest genetic distance between the Kyrgyz and Yanqi horse breeds. Combined with phylogenetic tree and clustering analysis results, this supports the hypothesis that the two breeds share a common origin. This study offers valuable scientific insights for conserving and utilizing the genetic resources of indigenous Xinjiang horse breeds, specifically the Kyrgyz and Barkol horses.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ani15182690","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,15]],"date-time":"2025-09-15T09:43:41Z","timestamp":1757929421000},"page":"2690","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Analysis of Genetic Diversity and Race Genetic Structure of Major Horse Breeds in Xinjiang, China"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0009-9766-5677","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Linlang","family":"Hou","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Xinjiang Key Laboratory for Ecological Adaptation and Evolution of Extreme Environment Organism, College of Life Sciences, Xinjiang Agricultural University, Urumqi 830052, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ablat","family":"Sulayman","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Animal Husbandry, Xinjiang Academy of Animal Science, Urumqi 830011, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0000-1881-1221","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Yaqi","family":"Zeng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Xinjiang Key Laboratory of Equine Breeding and Exercise Physiology, College of Animal Sciences, Xinjiang Agricultural University, Urumqi 830052, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lu","family":"Zhou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Xinjiang Key Laboratory for Ecological Adaptation and Evolution of Extreme Environment Organism, College of Life Sciences, Xinjiang Agricultural University, Urumqi 830052, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ainiwan","family":"Aimaier","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Pratacultural Research Institute, Xinjiang Academy of Animal Science, Urumqi 830011, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Adiljan","family":"Kader","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Xinjiang Key Laboratory for Ecological Adaptation and Evolution of Extreme Environment Organism, College of Life Sciences, Xinjiang Agricultural University, Urumqi 830052, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7227-7728","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Lei","family":"Shi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Xinjiang Key Laboratory for Ecological Adaptation and Evolution of Extreme Environment Organism, College of Life Sciences, Xinjiang Agricultural University, Urumqi 830052, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,14]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1419","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cell.2019.03.049","article-title":"Tracking five millennia of horse management with extensive ancient genome time Series","volume":"177","author":"Fages","year":"2019","journal-title":"Cell"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"422","DOI":"10.1038\/nrg.2016.58","article-title":"Determinants of genetic diversity","volume":"17","author":"Ellegren","year":"2016","journal-title":"Nat. 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