Proceedings of the XLVI Italian Society of Agricultural Genetics - SIGA Annual Congress

Giardini Naxos, Italy - 18/21 September, 2002

ISBN 88-900622-3-1

Poster Abstract - 3.16

CHARACTERIZATION OF AN ENDANGERED SICILIAN GOAT BREED BY MEANS OF MOLECULAR MARKERS

MARLETTA D.*, BORDONARO S.*, BLASI M.**, GUASTELLA A.M.*, D’URSO G.*

*) DACPA, Sez. di Scienze delle Produzioni Animali.Università degli Studi di Catania, Via Valdisavoia 5, 95123 Catania (Italy),

**) Laboratorio Gruppi Sanguigni, Soc. Coop. a.r.l., Potenza (Italy)

Girgentana goat, genetic diversity, microsatellite, caseins

Seventeen molecular markers were used for genetic characterization of the Girgentana, an endangered Sicilian goat breed. An excellent milk producer, this goat was traditionally bred near urban areas in large herds dedicated to producing milk that was distributed door to door. Over the last twenty years, the Girgentana breed number has diminished drastically from about 30,000 head in 1983 to about 500 in 1997, also as result in the marked decrease of fresh goat milk consumption.

Thirty-one Girgentana heads, not related at least in the second generation, bred on eleven herds, selected from about 400 samples collected in all the farms identified in Sicily and South Italy, were analysed for calcium-sensitive casein (CSN1S1, CSN1S2 and CSN2), that affect the quality and quantity of milk production, and for 14 microsatellite markers. Genomic DNA was analysed by different PCR, AS-PCR, and PCR-RFLP reactions at calcium-sensitive casein loci. The microsatellite loci were amplified by means of two different multiplex PCR reactions and the PCR amplification products were analysed on an ABI PRISM 377 DNA Sequencer and were sized using Genescan and Genotyper softwares. For each locus polymorphism information content (PIC), heterozygosity and Parentage exclusion probability (Pe) were estimated. GENEPOP 3.3 was used to calculate allelic frequencies, Hardy-Weinberg genetic equilibrium and inbreeding coefficient (Fis) for each molecular marker. This data enabled us to estimate the genetic variability within the Girgentana breed and can be also used to monitor the genetic structure of this endangered breed to avoid further loss of genetic variability.