Genetic diversity evaluation of Sojat goat population of India

Sojat goat forms the part and parcel of the lives of the farmers in the Barmer region of Rajasthan. These are large-sized goats, white in colour, and have dual utility. These goats fetch premium price during the Eid festival. Assessment of diversity is essential for germplasm characterization and management. Genomic microsatellite markers being a valuable tool for estimating genetic diversity were selected for exploring existing genetic variability in the Sojat goat population. The standard metrics of genomic diversity detected moderate variability with a total of 162 alleles across 22 loci in this lesser-known population. The expected number of alleles had a mean value of 3.40 +/- 0.39. Similarly, a moderate magnitude of diversity was recorded in the Sojat population as the mean observed heterozygosity was 0.54 +/- 0.05. Expected heterozygosity was higher than the observed (0.60 +/- 0.06), indicating a deviation from Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium (HWE) and the possibility of inbreeding due to the non-random mating in the population. Accordingly, significant heterozygote deficiency was noticed (F=0.08 +/- 0.03). The population did not suffer a reduction in effective population size in the last few generations. Mutation drift equilibrium did not reveal significant heterozygosity excess under different models of microsatellite evolution and no shift was recorded in the frequency distribution of alleles. To conclude, the results provided the first insights into the genetic diversity of Sojat goats. A moderate genetic variability with heterozygote deficiency within the population warrants immediate attention for scientific management of this unique goat population to conserve the existing genetic variation and to avoid any escalation of inbreeding.