Genetic distances among nine sudanese sub-breeds of autochthonous cattle as measured by RAPD and AFLP markers [electronic resource].

Includes references.

Nineteen AFLP primer combinations and 23 RAPD primers were used to estimate genetic diversity among nine sub-breeds representing four Sudanese autochthonous cattle namely Baggara (Nialawy), Nilotic (Majock), Butana and Kenana cattle. The level of polymorphism as revealed by RAPD and AFLP among the 9 cattle sub- breeds was 48.5% and 89.8%, respectively. The RAPD and AFLP data matrices were utilized to estimate the genetic similarity using Jaccard’s coefficient. Based on UPGMA cluster analysis the RAPD and AFLP dendrograms separated Nilotic breed in one cluster and the rest breeds in the second cluster with genetic distances of 84% and 56%, respectively. Each of RAPD and AFLP dendrogram assigned the groups of each cattle breed in a separate sub cluster. The dendrogram based on the combined data from RAPD and AFLP analysis clearly assigned the cattle breeds into two clusters, the subbreed Western Baggara in one cluster and sub-breeds of the other three breeds in the second cluster. The results assessed the potentiality of the RAPD and AFLP technology for characterizing each breed at the molecular level and generating unique fingerprint. This could have a great impact in cattle improving programs.

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