Characterization, performance and genetic diversity among goats of Odisha

Abstract

Phenotypic and biometric characterization was carried out of local goat populations of Odisha. The populations included Ganjam, Kalahandi, Ghumusar, Narayanpatnam, Raigarhi and Malkangiri goats. Ganjam goats are distinctly different from other populations because of long pointed horns. The body measurements of adult (12 months) males for heart girth, height at withers, body length, and paunch girth were measured. The coat colour of goats was recorded. The average body length, body height, chest girth, paunch girth, face length, horn length, ear length and tail length in adult female and male were measured. The biometric estimates for height at withers, body length, chest girth, paunch girth, face length, horn length, ear length and tail length indicated the average measurements. Genetic Biodiversity study includes 192 individuals of goats belonging to two recognized (Ganjam and Black Bengal) breeds and 2 lesser known goat populations (Kalahandi and Ghumusar) genotyped for a battery of 25 microsatellites. The number of observed allele for each locus ranged from 2.00 to 21.00. The highest number of allele was observed for locus OarFCB304 for Ganjam goat breed and lowest number of allele was observed for locus ETH225 for Kalahandi goat population. Polymorphic Information Content (PIC) value and bottleneck analysis were studied. Ghumusar and Kalahandi have the highest genetic distance (1.996) from the others and Ganjam and Black Bengal have minimum (0.346) genetic distance. In the neighbor joining diagram. the Ghumusar and Kalahandi goat populations plots separately from the other breeds/populations.