Assessment of with-in Breed Diversity in Hallikar Cattle ( Bos indicus ) through Microsatellite Markers

Hallikar cattle, a popular draft breed of India, were assessed genetically using five microsatellite markers, as recommended by FAO. All the screened loci were polymorphic and a total of 39 alleles were observed across the analyzed loci. The mean number of alleles was found to be 7.8±1.92 with a range of 5 to 10. The allele size ranged from 122 to 302 bp. The frequency distribution of microsatellite alleles in the breed was from 0.0104 to 0.7138. The estimated expected heterozygosity value was 0.6896±0.1403 and the PIC was 0.6565±0.1378. The population was not in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium proportion due to systematic and dispersive processes acting upon. The within population inbreeding estimate was 0.1331, indicating deficiency of heterozygosity considerably in population of Hallikar cattle. The panel of microsatellites used was highly informative for molecular characterization and could be used for exploitation of genetic diversity of the related breeds for conservation. No mode shift was detected in the frequency distribution of alleles and a normal L-shaped curve was observed, indicating that the population is nonbottlenecked and stable with respect to population size.