ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Anim. Sci.
Sec. Animal Breeding and Genetics
Volume 6 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fanim.2025.1588467
Conservation and genetic analysis of the endangered Martina Franca donkey using pedigree data
Provisionally accepted
Claudia Pierini1
Vincenzo Landi1*
Elena Ciani1
Aristide Maggiolino1Domenico Campanile2
MAYRA MERCEDES GÓMEZ CARPIO3
Pasquale De Palo1- 1University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy
- 2Regione Puglia, Bari, Italy
- 3A.N.A.S.B.. Associazione Nazionale Allevatori della Specie Bufalina, Caserta, Campania, Italy
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The Martina Franca donkey is an endangered breed native to Apulia, Italy, with historical significance in agriculture and equine therapy. This study aims to assess the genetic diversity and inbreeding trends within the population over a 15-year management period, evaluating its vulnerability to genetic erosion. Using pedigree data from 2261 individuals, we calculated key parameters such as inbreeding coefficients and effective population size (Ne) using the purgeR and optiSel packages.The results revealed a concerning rise in inbreeding, from FPED=0.07 in 2009 to FPED=0.10 in 2020 and also revealed critically low Ne values of 45.7. The findings also revealed values of 45.7 for maximum, of 3.06 for complete and 23.27 for equivalent generations. All these values fall significantly below the FAO-recommended threshold (Ne>50) for genetic sustainability (FAO, 1998), indicating a high risk of inbreeding depression. Although the breed has recently seen a demographic expansion due to its renewed use in equine therapy and milk production, the genetic diversity remains compromised. To safeguard this breed, effective conservation strategies -such as expanding the breeding population, avoiding overuse of sires, and improving pedigree records -are essential. This study highlights the urgent need for targeted management practices to preserve the genetic health and long-term sustainability of the Martina Franca donkey.
Keywords: Martina franca donkey, Apulia, Inbreeding, Population Genetics, effective population size, Generation interval
Received: 05 Mar 2025; Accepted: 19 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Pierini, Landi, Ciani, Maggiolino, Campanile, GÓMEZ CARPIO and De Palo. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Vincenzo Landi, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy
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