Microsatellite based genetic structuring reveals unique identity of Banni among river buffaloes of Western India

Genetic structure of Banni buffaloes vis-à-vis four other river buffalo breeds of Western India was assessed using short tandem repeat markers. The total number of alleles varied between 115 and 127 across five buffalo breeds. The mean estimates of global F-statistics over all loci were 0.330 for FIT, 0.145 for FST and 0.216 for FIS respectively. Analysis of molecular variance revealed that 14.33% of the total genetic variation was being explained by between breed differences. The phylogenetic tree constructed using chord distance estimates revealed the distinctness of Banni and Jaffarabadi buffaloes from other river buffalo breeds of the region. Multi dimensional scaling display of pair-wise FST values revealed the close proximity of Mehsana, Surti and Murrah buffaloes while Banni and Jaffarabadi buffaloes were placed separately. The results of principal components analysis based on pair-wise chord distance estimates between individual animals were consistent with the observation based on multidimensional scaling (MDS) analysis. This genetic structure was further supported by Bayesian clustering analysis which revealed three inferred clusters with Banni and Jaffarabadi forming separate clusters each while the remaining three breeds viz. Mehsana, Surti and Murrah together formed a single cluster. The results of the present study thus revealed the genetic uniqueness of Banni buffalo among other buffalo breeds of the region.