Genetic Diversity of Egg-Type Guinea Fowl Varieties (Numidameleagris) in Nigeria Based on Band Frequencies

This research investigated the Genetic diversity of egg-type helmeted guinea fowls varieties in Nigeria based on band frequencies. The experimental varieties were Pearl (Sake), Lavender (Hurudu), and Black (Angulu). A base population comprising a total of 120 adult females and 60 males sourced from Zaria, Kaduna state were used to generate F1 keets. The selected 144 F1 keets comprised 48 birds per variety, and each variety was randomized into three replicates containing 16 birds each in C.R.D experiment. Ten day-old pullets of domestic fowl (Isa Brown) were used as control. The entire experimental animals were managed till the first laying phase. At the middle of lay, blood samples were collected and pooled from 5 animals per replicate for DNA analysis. 14.5 mg of DNA was extracted with a purity value of 1.7 using QIAgen DNeasy ® blood and tissue DNA extraction protocol (2006). Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was carried out afterwards using three SNP primers: GHR424F, GHRe5; NYPmap9, NYPmap10; GnRHRmap5 and GnRHRmap8. At the end of the PCR, the PCR product was treated with two restriction enzymes: ECOR1 and ECOR5 to cut the DNA into characteristic band sizes. The enzyme-treated DNA samples were subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis. The genetic data were treated statistically. The Black expressed the highest band frequency compared with the control, whereas the Lavender had the least frequency of the bands studied. The band sharing frequency (bsf) shows that without the control, Pearl X Lavender (bsf 0.834) are the most related, whereas the Black X Lavender (bsf 0.389) were the most diverged. The same result was obtained when the varieties were compared to the control. Altogether the three varieties are moderately related (bsf 0.400 and 0.231). The higher the band sharing frequency, the greater the genetic relatedness among the guinea fowl varieties studied. This implies that the Pearl and Lavender variety showed the highest genetic relationship with respect to the genes studied for egg production, However, the Black and Pearl varieties are recommended for more genetic improvement and commercial egg production.