Assessment of Genetic Variability in Two North Indian Buffalo Breeds Using Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) Markers

B P Mishra,M Mukesh,A Anand,M Sodhi,S Bhatia

doi:10.5713/ajas.2006.1234

Abstract

Murrah and NiliRavi are the important North Indian buffalo breeds occupying the prominent position of being the highest milk producers. These breeds are more or less similar at morphological as well as physiological levels. The technique of RAPD-PCR was applied in the present study to identify a battery of suitable random primers to detect genetic polymorphism, elucidation of the genetic structure and rapid assessment of the differences in the genetic composition of these two breeds. A total of 50 random primers were screened in 24 animals each of Murrah and NiliRavi buffaloes to generate RAPD patterns. Of these, 26 (52%) primers amplified the buffalo genome generating 263 reproducible bands. The number of polymorphic bands for the 26 chosen RAPD primers varied from 3 (OPG 06 and B4) to 26 (OPJ 04) with an average of 10.1 bands per primer and size range of 0.2 to 3.2 kb. DNA was also pooled and analyzed to search for population specific markers. Two breed specific RAPD alleles were observed in each of Murrah (OPA02 and OPG16) and NiliRavi (OPG09) DNA pools. RAPD profiles revealed that 11 (4.2%) bands were common to all the 48 individuals of Murrah and NiliRavi buffaloes. Pair-wise band sharing calculated among the individual animals indicated considerable homogeneity of individuals within the breeds. Within breed, band sharing values were relatively greater than those of interbreed values. The low genetic distance (Nei's) value (0.109) estimated in this study is in accordance with the origin and geographical distribution of these breeds. The RAPD analysis indicated high level of genetic similarity between these two important North Indian buffalo breeds.

Highlights

India possesses the best and diversified germplasm of buffalo represented by ten well-defined breeds
The extent of polymorphism generated from the target genome in terms of polymorphic band pattern varied for different primers
Pair wise average band sharing calculated within the Murrah and NiliRavi buffaloes were 0.82 and 0.76 percent, respectively (Table 3), which indicated considerable degree and 0.39 respectively for 0.47, 1.3, 0.45, and 0.35 kb of homogeneity within the two populations

Summary

Introduction

India possesses the best and diversified germplasm of buffalo represented by ten well-defined breeds. RAPD primers with their sequences, screened in the two buffalo breeds and characteristics of their amplification products The present study was undertaken to achieve rapid screening of large number of random oligo primers for their ability to detect genetic polymorphism and subsequently examine within and between breed genetic variability in Murrah and NiliRavi buffaloes.

Results

Conclusion