Vol. 7, Issue 4 (2018)

Author(s):
Karthika Thumiki, Ramesh Guptha, Sai Reddy and Mahendhar

Abstract:
The present study was undertaken for assessment of genetic diversity in Flemish Giant and APAU Fawn rabbits through DNA fingerprinting using a total of 20 microsatellite markers 12 (rabbit specific primers) and 8(cross species primers). All 12 rabbit specific markers showed amplification but cross species markers did not show any amplification. The mean number of alleles ranged from 4(sat 3) to 12 (sat 5) in Flemish Giant, whereas it ranged from 5 (sat 3) to 11 (sat 8) in APAU Fawn with a total of 189 alleles across the 20 loci. The overall mean observed heterozygosity was found to be 0.348 in Flemish Giant and 0.394 in APAU Fawn. The overall mean expected heterozygosity was found to be 0.828 in Flemish Giant and 0.813 in APAU Fawn. The overall mean unbiased expected heterozygosity was found to be 0.873 in Flemish Giant and 0.858 in APAU Fawn. The overall mean PIC was found to be 0.805 in Flemish Giant and 0.785 in APAU Fawn. All the 12 primers which amplified were found to be polymorphic and highly informative. The overall mean inbreeding coefficient (F) of Flemish Giant was found to be 0.599 while in APAU Fawn it was 0.523. The mean FIS, FST and FIT obtained in the present study was 0.561, 0.070 and 0.583 respectively. Out of 20 microsatellite marker primers studied, 8 markers showed significant deviation from Hardy – Weinberg equilibrium which might be due to heterozygote deficiency.