Genetic diversity of today’s and ancestral populations of purebred kholmogory cattle in the Komi Republic

The genealogical information and genetic markers of different types were used to evaluate the genetic diversity of the endangered Kholmogory cattle breed in the Komi Republic. The main genealogical and gene pool of the ancestral population is available in the gene pool farms and the bank of cryopreserved semen of bulls. The effective number of the today’s population is sufficient to prevent the inbreeding from increasing above the acceptable limits for a short time. However, to maintain the genetic diversity for a long time, we need to attain at least a two-fold increase in the effective population number, primarily by increasing the number of seed donors. The use of different types of markers allows to obtain the exhaustive and objective information about the dynamics of the gene pool of the endangered breed.