Genetic Diversity and Relatedness among Different Four Cattle Breeds Reared in Rajasthan

Abstract

Genetic diversity and relationship between population of one hundred nine individuals from four cattle breeds i.e. Rathi, Tharparkar, Gir and Kankrej were studied using 18 microsatellite markers, proposed by FAO and ISAG. A total of 144, 135, 147 and 155 alleles were identified across 18 microsatellite loci in Rathi, Tharparkar, Gir and Kankrej cattle, respectively. Means of observed and expected heterozygosity were found to be 0.52±0.24 and 0.75±0.20 in Rathi, 0.47±0.32 and 0.7±0.28 in Tharparkar, 0.5±0.29 and 0.68±0.32 in Gir and 0.62±0.29 and 0.72±0.27 in Kankrej cattle, respectively. The average PIC (Polymorphic Information Content) value was found to be highly informative amongst all the cattle breeds. The Mean value of F-statistics significantly deviated from zero indicating that breeds are well separated. The present study indicates a significant deficit of heterozygotes in studied cattle breeds. The Nei’s Genetic distance analysis of the four cattle breed population revealed close genetic similarity between Rathi-Tharparkar in comparison to other breeds with maximum genetic distance between Tharparkar and Gir. Phylogenetic analysis based on UPGMA method further supported close genetic relationship between Rathi-Tharparkar as they clustered in one group.