Genetic diversity and bottleneck analysis of Konkan Kanyal goats

Abstract

Konkan Kanyal goats are medium-sized animals reared for meat purpose. They are predominantly black in colour with white markings in a specific pattern and are found in the Kudal, Sawantwadi, Dodamarg, Malvan and Vengurle Talukas of Sindhudurg district of Konkan region of Maharashtra state. The mean body weight ranges from 30 kg in adult females to 35 kg in males. The age at first kidding, kidding interval and twinning of these goats is 546 days, 240 days and 35 percent respectively. The average daily milk yield and lactation yield were found to be 0.6 and 69 kg, respectively. Characterization of Konkan Kanyal goats was carried out using a panel of 25 microsatellite markers. The genomic DNA of 50 unrelated goats was isolated and PCR amplified under standardized PCR conditions. The amplified DNA was used for genotyping by the automated DNA Sequencer ABI 3730. The analysis of data revealed that the effective number of alleles ranged from 1.17 to 8.94 and the number of observed alleles ranged from 5 to 19. A total of 255 alleles were observed with a mean of 10.2 alleles/locus. The observed heterozygosity ranged from 0.13 to 0.95, while the expected heterozygosity ranged from 0.14 to 0.89, indicating the heterogeneous nature of the population distributed in the breeding tract. The mean polymorphism content was 0.79. The qualitative graphical method based on the allele frequency spectra detected no shift in the frequency distribution of alleles and a normal L-shaped curve was observed where the alleles with the lowest frequencies were found to be most abundant. Based on the phenotypic and genetic variability, Konkan Kanyal goats appear to be distinct from other goats of Maharashtra state.