ABSTRACT
AIM: To estimate genetic variability in exon 3 of caprine myostatin gene in Marwari goats. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 120 blood samples from unrelated Marwari goats were randomly collected from different villages of Bikaner (Rajasthan), India. Genomic DNA was extracted from whole blood using blood DNA isolation kit (Himedia Ltd.) as per manufacturer's protocol. The quality of extracted genomic DNA was checked on 0.8% agarose gel. Specifically designed a primer set for caprine myostatin (MSTN) gene (Genebank accession no. DQ167575) was used to amplify the exon 3 region of MSTN gene in Marwari goat. The genetic variability in exon 3 of MSTN gene in Marwari goat was assessed on 8% polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis to detect single strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) pattern. RESULTS: The exon 3 of MSTN gene in Marwari goat showed two types of conformation patterns on 8% polyacrylamide gel. One of the patterns showed only two bands and was considered as genotype AA, whereas another pattern having an extra band was designated as genotype AB. The frequencies of AA and AB genotype for exon 3 region of MSTN gene were calculated as 0.90 and 0.10, respectively. CONCLUSION: Low level of polymorphism was observed at exon 3 region of MSTN gene in Marwari goat through SSCP analysis. This information could be utilized in future breeding plan to exploit the unique characteristics of Marwari goat of Rajasthan.
ABSTRACT
AIM: To estimate existing within-breed genetic variability in Marwari goats under field conditions and the generated data that can be used to determine genetic relationships with other breed of goats. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 146 blood samples of goats of Marwari breed were randomly collected from genetically unrelated animals from different villages of Bikaner Districts of Rajasthan, India. Genomic DNA was extracted from whole blood using proteinase K-digestion followed by standard phenol-chloroform extraction procedure at room temperature and confirmed through horizontal electrophoresis on 0.8% agarose gel containing ethidium bromide. Fifteen caprine microsatellite markers were used to estimate genetic variability among the goats of Marwari breed in terms of allelic and genotype frequencies, heterozygosities and polymorphism information content (PIC) value. RESULTS: A total of 74 alleles were contributed by Marwari goat across all 15 microsatellite loci. The number of alleles per locus varied from two (ILSTS-087) to 9 (ILSTS-058) alleles, with a mean of 4.93 whereas the effective number of allele varied from 1.35 (ILSTS-005) to 3.129 (ILSTS011) with a mean of 2.36. The effective number of allele is lesser than observed number at all the loci. Allelic sizes ranged from 125 bp (ILSTS-028 and ILSTS-033) to 650 bp (ILSTS-011 and ILSTS-019). The expected heterozygosity ranged from 0.240 (locus ILSTS-005) to 0.681 (locus ILSTS-011), with an average value of 0.544. The observed heterozygosity (Ho) ranged from 0.1428 (locus ILSTS-087) to 0.9285 (locus ILSTS-034), with an average value of 0.5485 indicates substantial and very good number of heterozygotes, in the population. The highest PIC value (1.1886) was observed at ILSTS-044 locus and least (0.0768) at ILSTS-065 locus for Marwari goat. CONCLUSION: Microsatellite analysis revealed a high level of polymorphism across studied microsatellite markers and informativeness of the markers for genetic diversity analysis studies in Marwari goats. This high level of polymorphism can be utilized to plan future biodiversity studies to exploit the uniqueness and adaptability of this breed to Western Rajasthan. Most studied microsatellite markers proving to be good candidates for genetic characterization and diversity analysis of this breed of goat.
