Analysis of Genetic Diversity in Berari Goat Population of Maharashtra State

Berari goats are medium sized animals reared mainly for meat purpose. They are predominantly brown and blackish brown in colour with glossy hair and found in Vidarbha region of Maharashtra state. Berari is not a recognized breed but a well established local population of goat which is yet to be fully explored for its phenotypic and genetic aspects. Within population genetic variation was examined in Berari goat population using microsatellite markers. The observed number of alleles varied from 4 (ILSTS05, OarJMP29) to 26 (OarFCB304) with a mean of 11.76 whereas the effective number of allele varied from 1.15 (OarJMP29) to 11 (ILSTS059) with a mean of 4.95. The effective number of allele is lesser than observed number at all the loci. Polymorphic information content ranged from 0.47 (OarJMP29) to 0.92 (OarFCB304) with the mean value of 0.82. Shannon’s information index which measures the level of diversity ranged from 0.32 (OarJMP29) to 2.61 (ILSTS059) with average of 1.76 ± 0.55. Observed heterozygosity ranged from 0.10 (OarJMP29) to 1 (RM088) with the average of 0.67 and the expected heterozygosity ranged from 0.13 (OarJMP29) to 0.91 (ILSTS059) with the average of 0.73. Six of the twenty five loci showed the negative inbreeding coefficient as also depicted by the Hd value for the same loci. The unbiased expected gene diversity (Nei’s) ranged from 0.14 (OarJMP29) to 0.92 (ILSTS059) with the overall mean 0.73 ± 0.19. The L-shaped curve obtained indicates that Berari goat population has not undergone any recent bottleneck. The genetic variability exhibited by the Berari goats can be suitably exploited for its genetic improvement and sustainable conservation.