Data from: Genetic structure of Omani goats reveals admixture among populations from geographically proximal sites

The genetic diversity of most global goat populations has been assessed in
recent decades using nuclear markers but remains unstudied in the south
Arabian Peninsula, particularly in Sultanate of Oman, despite the
importance of these animals for the local economy and food supply.
Therefore, the present study provides a comparative analysis of the
genetic diversity of five native Omani goat populations and evaluates
possible admixture rates with the four most frequently imported goat
populations from geographically proximal countries. Quality control of 15
loci was conducted and molecular characterization of nine populations was
performed with 11 microsatellite markers. Accordingly, a data set based on
11 high informative microsatellites loci genotypes from nine populations
was used to estimate the population genetic parameters. The summary
statistics for the parameters depicted relatively highly diverse
populations (Ho = 0.667, He = 0.663) with relatively low and mostly
non-significant levels of inbreeding (FIS). Furthermore, the population
substructure estimators (AMOVA) and population differentiation coefficient
(FST) were indicated weak genetic differentiation among populations (P
< 0.001).A finer analysis of the population substructure and
differentiation using STRUCTURE, discriminant analyses of principal
components (DAPCs) and a neighbor-joining (NJ) tree were supported a
scenario that a high level of gene flow between populations from close
geographical locations are the main evolutionary driving force. Thus, any
future conservation strategy and breeding programs should include to
preserve unique alleles that might be contributing to with stand the
limited feed and requirement in desert ecosystems as well as economic
traits.