Study of genetic diversity of Iranian indigenous buffalo populations using microsatellite markers

Indigenous buffalo breeds represent a unique genetic resource, and understanding their variability, population structure and breeding units is important for their sustainable conservation. In the present study the genetic structure of Iranian buffalo populations was analyzed using ten microsatellite markers. Two hundred hair samples were collected and DNA was extracted using modified salting out method. After Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), the PCR products were electrophoresed using 9% polyacrylamide gel. Fifty- nine alleles were observed for all the loci. The average number of alleles was 5.90 and the effective average number of alleles was 4.86. The high level of mean heterozygosity index between three populations indicate that the genetic diversity is high in within and between populations. The mean of polymorphism information content (PIC) value for all loci was 0.70. The FST value for the total loci was 0.01, indicating a very low level of genetic structure among populations. The genetic structure AMOVA analysis showed that about 3% of the total genetic variation was explained by population differences and 97 percent was corresponded to differences among individuals. The obtained results at the present study indicated that characterization of genetic diversity by employing molecular tools is a prerequisite in developing strategies for conservation and utilization of buffalo genetic resources.