Genetic characterization of Andaman Desi pig, an indigenous pig germplasm of Andaman and Nicobar group of islands, India by microsatellite markers

Abstract

Aim: The present study was carried out to characterize Andaman Desi pig genetically using 23 FAO recommended microsatellite markers. Materials and Methods: 25 blood samples were collected from genetically unrelated Andaman Desi pigs and DNA was isolated by standard procedure of phenol/chloroform. The genomic DNA was amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) at 23 microsatellite loci and the PCR products were resolved by denaturing urea polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and alleles were visualized after silver nitrate staining. The data were analyzed for allele size range, number of alleles, allelic frequencies, heterozygosity and polymorphism information content (PIC) for each locus. Results: The allele size range varied from 86-116 bp at locus SW936 to 280-296 at locus IGFI. The total number of alleles ranged between 5 (S0228, SW122, SW951, SW24 and S0178) and 12 (S0355). The effective number of alleles ranged from 3.14 (SW24) to 8.1 (S0355). The mean observed and expected heterozygosities were 0.69±0.01 and 0.77±0.01 respectively. The mean PIC for all the 23 studied loci was 0.74±0.01. Conclusions: The Andaman Desi pig was characterized at genetic level and it was found that the genetic diversity of this indigenous breed was high. © The authors.