Genetic relationships between Chilota and Spanish native sheep breeds of Chile.

Chilota sheep is a typical animal population from Chiloé Archipelago in the south of Chile. First sheep were introduced in Chiloé in 1568 with Spanish conquerors. In 2010 Chilota sheep was recognized as the first original breed of Chile. Blood samples were obtained from 40 Chilota individuals from 40 flocks spread throughout Chiloé Archipelago. A maximum of one individual per flock were sampled. Up to 21 microsatellites, previously used to characterize both betweenand within-breed genetic relationships in sheep were analyzed in all the individuals. Results show that Chilota sheep shows a population structure that doesn′t differ significantly from that presented in the Spanish racial groups previously analyzed. A deficit of heterozygotes is also observed possibly because of geographic isolation on the islands within the archipelago of Chiloé.