Molecular and phenometric characterization of Bhakarwali goat breed of India

Bhakarwali is recently registered as 34th goat breed of India. It is distributed in the hilly tracts of Jammu and Kashmir. The breed is distinct with superior qualities such as high temperature resistance and milk, meat and fiber productivity under the low input system. It’s characterization at phenotypic level was carried out by surveying the breeding tract and at genotypic level by microsatellite markers. Information on body traits, performance traits and managemental practices were collected by interviewing the goat keepers. All the microsatellite loci selected for diversity analysis were polymorphic and a total of 190 alleles were identified across the 23 microsatellite loci. OMHC1 depicted the highest number of alleles (15) while ILSTS065 had the lowest (2) with 8.26±0.663 mean number of alleles per locus. Expected number of alleles ranged from 1.065 (ILSTS044) to 6.755 (OMHC1) with a mean value of 3.613±0.367 alleles per locus. The observed heterozygosity ranged from 0.063 (ILSTS044) to 0.915 (OMHC1) with a mean of 0.629±0.045. Corresponding values of expected heterozygosity varied between 0.061 (ILSTS044) to 0.852 (OMHC1) with a mean of 0.639±0.043. Heterozygote deficiency was negligible as average FIS value was only 0.002±0.033. Bottleneck was examined using all the three mutations models and was found to be absent. Normal L-shaped curve indicated lack of mode shift in the population. This is the first-hand report on current diversity status of Bhakarwali goat and is expected to be useful in planning conservation and in facilitating their effective use in future breeding programs.