PHYLOGENETIC (DENDROGRAM) ANALYSIS OF THREE INDIGENOUS BREEDS OF GOAT IN NORTHERN NIGERIA

Abstract

Phylogenetic (Dendrogram) Analysis of three indigenous breeds of goat in northern Nigeria namely Red Sokoto, Borno White and West African Dwarf goats (40 animals each) were evaluated using Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) marker. This study was conducted in three states of northern Nigeria namely Jigawa, Yobe and Nasarawa States. Ten RAPD markers were initially used for the analysis, 1 of the 10 markers was discarded based on the band pattern quality. The Laboratory analysis was conducted at the Molecular Laboratory, National Institute of Trypanosomiasis Research (NITR), Kaduna. Results were analyzed using GenALEX 6.5 software. Phylogenetic tree constructed using the boostrapped data and neighbor-joining method grouped all the three breeds into two clusters indicating an agreement with phenotypic similarities. The result indicated that West African dwarf goat is most genetically distant from Red Sokoto and Borno white. The information obtained indicates
that these breeds are genetically different which provide a good background about the breeds for genetic improvement and conservation of our local goat breed in the feature. The present study suggests that RAPD-PCR can effectively be used to determine the Phylogenetic relationship among the goat breeds.