Abstract
Genetic variation in Nilagiri sheep, the only apparel wool breed in South India was studied using 25 FAO recommended ovine-specific microsatellite markers. The number of observed alleles ranged from 3 to 8 with a mean of 5 across all loci. The size of alleles ranged from 72 to 228 bp. The frequency of alleles ranged from 0.0104 to 0.5781. In total, 125 alleles were observed at the 25 loci studied. The effective number of alleles ranged from 2.18 to 6.49. The mean number of effective alleles was 3.84 across all loci. All the 25 loci were found to be highly polymorphic. The PIC values ranged from 0.4587 to 0.8277 with a mean of 0.6485. Of 25 microsatellites studied, 17 were in Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium proportions. The observed heterozygosity ranged from 0.4222 to 1.000 with a mean value of 0.7610 whereas the expected heterozygosity ranged from 0.5415 to 0.8459 with a mean value of 0.7213. Except six loci, the other loci revealed negative within-population inbreeding estimates (F IS ) indicating excess of heterozygotes in the population ofNilagiri sheep.
Highlights
The erosion of domestic animal diversity due to natural causes and creative human activity is of serious concern if current production levels are to be sustained and the changing demands of future markets are to be addressed
A molecular genetic study of population structure may improve the understanding of present day genetic resources
Animal samples Blood samples were collected from 50 Nilagiri sheep, unrelated by ancestry and the genomic DNA was isolated by a rapid non-enzymatic method as described by Lahiri and Nurnberger (1991)
Summary
The erosion of domestic animal diversity due to natural causes and creative human activity is of serious concern if current production levels are to be sustained and the changing demands of future markets are to be addressed. There is little organized shearing and marketing of wool, the sheep being mostly maintained for manure by tea planters and other flock owners. The population of this breed according to 1972 census was 8,000 and 1977 census it was 7,677. Considering its very small numbers, its adaptation and the need for meat and apparel wool in the area in which it is located, efforts have been initiated to conserve the Nilagiri breed of sheep. The present study on the molecular characterisation of Nilagiri sheep is one such effort towards their conservation, as microsatellite DNA markers are found suitable for the description of breeds due to their dense distribution in the genome, great variation, co-dominant inheritance and easy genotyping.
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