The aim of this study was to characterize the genetic pool of the West African Dwarf (WAD) goats using haemoglobin (Hb) polymorphism, as well as the association of some morphological traits with the ...Hb variants. Blood samples were collected from a total of 104 mature goats of both sexes belonging to the WAD breed in north central Nigeria. The red cell lysates were subjected to cellulose acetate electrophoresis and specific staining procedure to reveal the band patterns of haemoglobin. Three co-dominant alleles, causing the presence of three genotypes (AA, AB and AC) were detected among individual goats. The frequencies of the A, B and C alleles were 0.69, 0.30 and 0.01, respectively. The corresponding genotype frequencies for AA, AB and AC in the goat population were 0.37, 0.61 and 0.02, respectively. The discrepancy between the observed and the expected genotype number was significant (P<0.05) thereby violating the Hardy-Weinberg frequencies. The expected heterozygosity (H), which is a measure of gene diversity in the population, was 0.57; while the local inbreeding coefficient (F) was -0.055 indicating disassortative mating. Apart from body weight and heart girth which were higher (P<0.05) in individuals with Hb AA genotype, other body parameters were not significantly influenced (P>0.05) by Hb variants. There is a need for further study encompassing more number of goats covering larger areas, use of DNA markers and their relationship with economic traits as well as performance study for detailed understanding of breed characteristics, conservation and genetic improvement of WAD goats in north central Nigeria.
Cilj ovog istraživanja bila je genetska karakterizacija zapadnoafričkih patuljastih koza (WAD) pomoću polimorfizma hemoglobina (Hb), kao i povezanost nekih morfoloških obilježja s HB varijantama. ...Uzorci krvi spolno zrelih koza WAD pasmine (n=104) prikupljeni su u sjevernom dijelu središnje Nigerije. Uzorci su uzeti od oba spola. Za utvrđivanje profila hemoglobina provedena je elektroforeza (celuloza acetat) i specifična tehnika bojanja gela. Tri kodominantna alela koja su uvjetovala prisutnost tri genotipa (AA, AB i AC) utvrđena su između pojedinih koza. Frekvencije alela A, B i C bile su 0,69, 0,30 i 0,01. Frekvencija genotipova AA bila je 0,37, AB 0,61 i AC 0,02. Nesukladnost između promatranog i očekivanog broja genotipova bila je značajna (P<0,05), što narušava Hardy-Weinberg frekvencije. Očekivana heterozigotnost (H), koja predstavlja raznolikost gena u populaciji je 0,57; dok lokalni koeficijent inbreedinga (F) iznosi -0,055 i ukazuje na disasortativno parenje. Osim tjelesne težine i srčanog obujma, čije su vrijednosti bile veće (P<0,05) u individua Hb AA genotipa, Hb varijante nisu značajno utjecale (P>0,05) na ostale parametre tijela. Postoji potreba za daljnje istraživanje koje će obuhvatiti veći broj koza koje pokrivaju veća područja, korištenjem DNA markera i njihova odnosa s gospodarskim svojstvima, kao i performans studije za razumijevanje svojstava pasmine, te očuvanje i genetsko unapređenje WAD pasmine koza u sjevernom dijelu središnje Nigerije.
