Genetic Diversity of Endangered Sheep Breed of Valley Swat, Pakistan, Based on Microsatellite Analysis

Morphologically, Kutta breed is black coat color sheep, with short tail and having thick wool fiber diameter. Weight differences in Kutta sheep exists as animals found in plain areas are slightly heavier and bigger than those found in hilly and remote areas of upper Kalam and Malamjaba of valley Swat with an average body weight of 23.2 ±0.34 kg. Aim of the study is to provide information on the genetic structure of the Kutta breed. A set of 31 FAO recommended microsatellite (SSR) markers was used to access the genetic variability in 21 DNA samples extracted.The breed showed high level of genetic diversity. Out of the total 31 FAO recommended markers, 23 were fully amplified during Polymerase Chain reactions (PCR), having a total of 151 different alleles obtained, with an effective allele of (6.57) per locus. Similarly high level of average heterozygosity (0.77) and gene diversity (0.80) was observed. The within breed estimate (FIS) in breed was found extremely low (0.002). Shannon information Index (I) was found (1.65). The mean Chi-square value for the Hardy Weinberg Equilibrium (0.10) indicates that the population has lost its equilibrium on the overall basis. Majority of the markers were found neutral when test on Evens-Watterson, which suggest that decreases in heterozygosity in the population was not due to selection. Test for mutation drift equilibrium in the population showed that the population had preserved its effective size and has not experienced genetic bottleneck at least in the recent past