Microsatellite markers based Genetic evaluation of Pakistani cattle breeds

Animal genetic resource of pakistan is very diverse. there are 15 distinct breeds of cattle in pakistan all belonging to zebu (humped type) cattle (bos indicus) for which very little information on genetic architecture is available. microsatellite markers are being widely used for breed characterization in animals. in the present study 345 individuals of 11 breeds (10 pakistani cattle breeds and exotic holstein friesian breed) were genotyped using 21 fluorescently-labeled microsatellite markers to assess genetic variation and relationships among them. all markers were polymorphic in all studied breeds and observed number of alleles ranged from 6.28 in tharparker to 10.66 in dajal with mean value 8.50±1.552. average values of observed and expected heterozygosity were calculated as 0.4897±0.1538 and 0.8292±0.0744 respectively. mean values of fis,fit,fst and gene flow were 0.2819,0.3864 and 0.1456 respectively. the average pic value was 0.81 showing suitability of these markers for forensic analyses. nei's genetic distance estimates indicated relatively close genetic identity between tharparker and red-sindhi breeds of sindh province of pakistan while tharparker and dajal breeds of pakistan were found most distinct. the upgma-based phylogenetic tree constructed from the genetic distances also indicated that the cattle breeds of pakistan can be classified into distinct genetic groups based on these markers. this is the first comprehensive report on molecular characterization of pakistani cattle breeds using microsatellite markers. this study can be helpful for making breed conservation strategies of cattle in pakistan in future. copyright 2016 zoological society of pakistan.