title: Genetic diversity and structure of two prominent zebu cattle breeds adapted to the arid region of India inferred from microsatellite polymorphism.
abstract: This study aims to assess the genetic diversity and population structure of two major zebu dairy breeds (Tharparkar and Rathi) adapted to the arid region of Rajasthan state of India. Various variability estimates indicate the existence of sufficient within-breed genetic diversity. Mean estimates of F-statistics are significantly different from zero: F (IS) = 0.112 +/- 0.029, F (IT) = 0.169 +/- 0.033, F (ST) = 0.065 +/- 0.017. The overall positive value of F (IS) (0.112) and an F (IT) value (0.169) that is more than the F (ST) (0.065) indicate departure from random mating. The drift-based estimates reflect a moderate yet significant level of breed differentiation between the Tharparkar and Rathi breeds. The evaluation of an exact test, showing that allele frequencies across all the loci differed significantly, supports the population differentiation. This is paralleled by the outcome of neighbor-joining clustering based on allele-sharing distance measures. The allocation of a high percentage of individuals (95.7%) to their population of origin and correspondence analysis further substantiates the existence of a cohesive genetic structure in both the breeds.
authors.affiliation: Cattle Genomics Laboratory, Division of Animal Genetics, National Bureau of Animal Genetics Resources, P.O. Box 129, Karnal, 132001, Haryana, India. monikasodhi@yahoo.com
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sodhi
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mukesh
authors.forename: S P S
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Ahlawat
authors.forename: R C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Sobti
authors.forename: G C
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Gahlot
authors.forename: S C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Mehta
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Prakash
authors.forename: B P
authors.initials: BP
authors.lastname: Mishra
mesh_terms: D000222:Adaptation, Physiological / Q000235:genetics*; D000483:Alleles; D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics*; D003889:Desert Climate; D005819:Genetic Markers; D007194:India; D015810:Linkage Disequilibrium; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats / Q000235:genetics*; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic / Q000235:genetics*; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D005819:Genetic Markers