Mitochondrial phylogenetic and diversity analysis in Azi-Kheli buffalo

Microsatellite Markers & Mitochondrial D-Loop Based Phylogenetic And Diversity Analysis In Gabrali Cattle

The Gabrali cattle is a multipurpose breed, native to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Despite its economic importance, scientific data about its phylogeny and genetic diversity is scarce. To address this issue, the present study was conducted on thirty (30) unrelated Gabrali male and female animals, from which blood samples were collected and DNA was extracted. Twelve (12) microsatellite loci and 1159 bp of D-loop region were amplified via PCR and visualized on a 2% agarose gel. Sanger sequencing technique was used to sequence the D-loop amplicons. The microsatellite loci revealed 83 alleles with MNA (mean no of alleles per locus) = 8.8, the Ho (observed heterozygosity) and He (expected heterozygosity) of all loci were 0.58 and 0.50 respectively, mean PIC (Polymorphic Information content) = 0.59 and FIS (Inbreeding coefficient) = 0.056 using GeneAlEx® software. Microsatellite analysis revealed a normal allelic distribution across the breed, consistent with Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. D-loop sequencing revealed eight haplotypes with 30 SNPs using DNA SP 6.0 software. High AT content was observed than GC content i.e. 55.9% and 44.1% respectively, while the transition to transversion ratio was R = 10:1. The value of Haplotype and Nucleotides diversity was Hd = 0.8601 ± SD = 0.0895 and Π = 0.0136 ± SD = 0.00197 respectively. Phylogenetic analysis done using Neighbor-joining method with bootstraps value of 1000, revealed the monophyletic clade of both Gabrali and Bos indicus haplotypes. Furthermore, the introgression of genes from national cattle breeds into Gabrali cattle was observed. It is concluded that Gabrali cattle have common ancestry with Bos indicus having no threats of genetic bottleneck having substantial genetic diversity.

Morpometric and molecular characterization of Surguli goat through CO1 gene in district Kohat

The present study was designed with the aim to study morphometric characterization as well as phylogeny and diversity of the local Surguli goat at their breeding tract district Kohat through mitochondrial DNA region, i.e., Cytochrome C Oxidase Subunit One (CO1) gene. Morphometric data and blood samples were collected from thirty (30) pure goats. Morphometric analysis showed that sex had significant effect (p < 0.05) on body weight, body length, hearth girth and horn length while no significant effect (p > 0.05) was observed for other characteristics. The results also indicated that age had significant effect (p < 0.05) on height at rump, ear length, horn length and tail length while no significant effect (p > 0.05) was observed for other characteristics. The phylogenetic analysis through CO1 nucleotide sequences within nucleotide range 1-767 showed nine polymorphic sites segregating into eight haplotypes. The mean intraspecific diversity and mean interspecific diversity were calculated as 0.23 and 2.36%, respectively. Phylogenetic tree revealed that Capra Ibex and native Surguli goat have common ancestors. The morphometric and molecular results obtained from the present study can be exploited as a selection tool for breeding and overall improvement.

Comparison and Phylogenetic Analysis of Mitochondrial Genomes of Talpidae Animals

Talpidae is a model group for evolutionary studies due to their highly specialized morphologies and diverse lifestyles. Mitochondrial genomes are molecular markers commonly used in species evolution and phylogenetic studies. In this study, the complete mitochondrial genome sequence of Scaptochirus moschatus was obtained by Illumina NovaSeq sequencing. The complete mitochondrial genomes of 14 Talpidae species (including Scaptochirus moschatus obtained in the present study) and the cytochrome b (Cyt b) gene sequences of 48 Talpidae species were downloaded from the NCBI database for comparison and phylogenetic studies to analyze the phylogenetic relationships and to find the possible reasons of the niche differentiation and ecotype specialization of Talpidae animals. The results showed that the mitochondrial genome sequences of 14 species belonging to the family Talpidae were 16,528 to 16,962 bp, all containing 13 protein-coding genes, 22 tRNA, two rRNA, and a non-coding region (control region). The difference in the number of repetitive repeats in the control region is responsible for the difference in the length of Talpidae mitochondrial genome sequences. Combining the divergence time of Talpidae animals with the geological history, it is found that the niche differentiation and ecotype divergence of Talpidae is closely related to historically global climate changes. Semi-aquatic groups diverged in the early Oligocene (about 31.22 MYA), probably in response to the global climate transition from warm to cool. During the early Miocene (about 19.54 MYA), some species of Talpidae moved to underground habitats and formed fossorial groups that were adept at digging due to the effects of the glaciation. In the middle Miocene (about 16.23 MYA), some Talpidae animals returned to the ground and formed semi-fossorial shrew moles as global climate warming again.

Genetic Diversity Relationship in Azakheli Buffalo Inferred from mtDNA and MC1R Sequences Comparison

Azakheli is relatively smaller riverine breed with a very peculiar characteristics kept under unique traditional husbandry practices in comparison with rest of the Pakistani buffalo breeds; however, milk production is comparable. The present study was conducted to evaluate the genetic diversity of Azakheli breed. A total of sixty-six blood samples were collected for the amplification of mtDNA D-loop region and MC1R gene sequencing analysis. Median-joining network analysis of 191 mtDNA D-loop sequences of Azakheli and eight Indian riverine buffalo breeds clustered into three clades. Ancient Azakheli Region 1 clade was the oldest with the highest mutation steps and was present close to the root of UPGMA phylogenetic tree. There was 5 mutated lines distance between Pakistan buffalo and Indian riverine buffaloes. The populations of neighboring countries did not share any haplotypes with Azakheli buffalo of Pakistan. Possibly, residing for so long in the cold atmosphere and high elevation regions caused the mutation in mtDNA D-loop, though these conditions did not affect the overall performance of Azakheli as milch buffalo breed of Pakistan. MC1R analyses showed high mutations in Azakheli of Albino phenotype and all the black phenotype individuals of Azakheli buffalo share haplotypes with dominant Chinese and Indian black phenotypes buffaloes in MC1R median-joining network, indicating the reason of black coat color is due to MC1R gene. The haplotype diversity and nucleotide diversity was (H. 0.923, Pi: 0.00895) in Azakheli. Current results illustrated Asian ancestry for Azakheli buffalo, and mtDNA and MC1R analyses provided further evidence. Additional genetic analyses and archeological studies may provide further insight into the domestication period and history of Azakheli buffalo breed. The further studies are required on different coat colors with different genes on Azakheli buffalo to understand the phenotype variation.