Assessment of genetic variability in murrah buffaloes using microsatellite markers

Abstract

In the present study, a total of 30 microsatellite markers selected from the list suggested by FAO were screened to explore genetic variability in Murrah buffaloes. All the target loci were successfully amplified by polymerase chain reaction and observed number of alleles ranged from 4 (CSSM032 and ILSTS005) to 12 (CSSM033 and ILSTS028) with a total of 239 alleles across the 30 loci. The overall mean observed heterozygosity, expected heterozygosity and unbiased expected heterozygosity values were 0.439, 0.826 and 0.841, respectively, and ranged from 0.000 to 0.967; 0.709 to 0.899; and 0.712 to 0.915, respectively. All the 30 primer-pairs used in the present study were found to be polymorphic and highly informative with the PIC values ranging from 0.656 to 0.879 with overall mean PIC 0.803. The overall mean inbreeding coefficient (FIS) and the outcrossing rate obtained in the present study were 0.483 and 0.464, respectively. Out of 30 microsatellite marker primers studied, 29 markers showed significant deviation from Hardy - Weinberg equilibrium which might be due to selection of animals over the generations. The sufficiently high mean values of observed number of alleles, observed heterozygosity and PIC for various microsatellites in the present study supported their suitability for genetic diversity studies. Results of the present study have contributed to the knowledge of genetic information of Murrah buffaloes.