MICROSATELLITE DNA TYPING FOR ASSESSMENT OF GENETIC VARIABILITY IN THE MEHSANA BUFFALO BREED OF INDIA

Abstract

The present study estimates genetic variability with a set of 11 microsatellite markers in a 112 animals of Mehsana breed of Indian buffalo covered under a progeny testing program operated by Dudhsagar Research and Development Association (DURDA). All samples were genotyped at 11 microsatellite loci and analyzed for genetic variability. The observed number of alleles ranged from 5 (ILSTS11) to 16 (ILSTS61), with allelic diversity (average number of observed alleles per locus) of 9.63. Observed and expected heterozygosity ranged from 0.27 (CSSM43) to 0.84 (CSSM22), and from 0.67 (CSSM57) to 0.83 CSSSM43, CSSM61, ILSTS61) respectively. Various genetic variability measures, namely mean allele diversity (9.63), mean Observed heterozygosity (0.66), mean expected heterozygosity (0.77) and mean polymorphism information content (0.738) values showed substantial within-breed genetic variability in this breed. Bottleneck analysis showed no genetic bottleneck in the recent past. The wide range of genetic variability supported the utility of these microsatellite loci in measurement of genetic diversity indices in other Indian buffalo breeds too.