Comparative genomic insights into adaptation, selection signatures, and population dynamics in indigenous Indian sheep and foreign breeds by Malarmathi Muthusamy, Oludayo Michael Akinsola, Oludayo Michael Akinsola, Pritam Pal, Chitra Ramasamy, Saravanan Ramasamy, Abdulraheem Arome Musa, Aranganoor Kannan Thiruvenkadan

“…BackgroundIndia’s indigenous sheep breeds have evolved under extreme and diverse agro‐ecological pressures, yet the genomic basis of their resilience and local adaptation remains poorly understood.MethodThis study combines genomic inbreeding estimates, runs of homozygosity (ROH), population structure analyses, and composite selection scans to investigate three native Indian breeds—Changthangi, Deccani, and Garole—within a panel of nine breeds that also includes populations from Africa (Ethiopian Menz), East and South Asia (Tibetan, Chinese Merino, Bangladesh Garole, Bangladesh East), and Europe (Suffolk).ResultsROH and heterozygosity estimates revealed strong contrasts: Bangladesh East sheep exhibited high genomic inbreeding (FROH≈14.4%) and low observed heterozygosity (∼30.6%), whereas Deccani sheep showed low inbreeding (FROH≈1.1%) and high observed heterozygosity (∼35.6%), consistent with broader gene flow and larger flock sizes. …”
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