Vol. 9, Issue 12, Part A (2025)

The genetic diversity of Nandidurga goats using ten FAO-recommended microsatellite markers was conducted. The genomic DNA from goats of different flocks were PCR-amplified with a panel of 10 microsatellite markers. Microsatellite PCR products were run on Metaphore agarose gel and the raw data obtained was analysed. A total of 105 alleles were identified, with the observed number of alleles per locus ranging from 4 to 15 (mean 10.50±0.47) and the effective number of alleles ranging from 2.74 to 11.26 (mean 6.98±0.29). These findings reflect higher allelic diversity than previous reports by Tantia et al. (2018) and Jayshree et al. (2019). The observed heterozygosity (Ho) varied from 0 to 1, while expected heterozygosity (He) exceeded 0.5 across all loci, confirming the markers’ applicability for assessing genetic variation in the breed. Mean Ho, He, and Nei’s heterozygosity were 0.28±0.02, 0.84±0.01, and 0.83±0.01, respectively. Polymorphism Information Content (PIC) ranged from 0.573 to 0.904, with a mean of 0.808, denoting high informativeness of these markers. Shannon’s Information Index averaged 2.038, indicating substantial polymorphism. The mean inbreeding coefficient (F_IS) was 0.025, with values between-0.474 and 0.452, suggesting limited inbreeding in the population. All microsatellite loci deviated significantly from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (p<0.01), likely due to the multilocus nature of microsatellites, gene flow among populations, and sample size limitations. Overall, the results demonstrate rich genetic diversity in the Nandidurga goat breed, providing foundational data for effective conservation and breeding strategies.