Genetic Characterization of Hamra Goat Population in Two Different Locations of Morocco Using Microsatellite Markers

In this study, genetic diversity of two different populations of Hamra goat breed of Morocco was investigated in 60 different samples (including 30 from Beni Arouss and 30 from Rommani) using fifteen microsatellite markers. A total of 145 alleles were detected with average number per locus of 8.67 and 8.07 in Beni Arouss and Rommani goats, respectively. The Shannon’s information index ranged from 1.58 in Rommani goats to 1.66 in Beni Arouss goats. The expected and the observed heterozygosity average over loci varied from 0.62 to 0.72 in Rommani and from 0.64 to 0.75 in Beni Arouss goats. Six markers in Beni Arouss goats and five in Rommani goats showed a significant deviation from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. The FIS values were 0.110 and 0.108 for Beni Arouss and Rommani goats, respectively. A low genetic differentiation was indicated by FST values across the two goat groups. The genetic distance of Nei between the two groups was 0.046 indicating a low genetic differentiation. This was confirmed by the analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) that showed that 99.15% of variation was distributed within genetic groups. The presence of two clusters (K=2) for microsatellite markers suggested a high level of population admixture. It was concluded that both groups (Beni Arouss and Romani) presented a high similarity and may be considered as belonging to the same population.