Genetic and morphometric characterization of a local Vietnamese Swamp Buffalo population

Abstract

The water buffalo plays a key role in the socio-economy of South-East Asia as it is the main draught power for paddy rice cultivation. While in the Indian subcontinent the water buffalo is the riverine type, in South-East Asia the majority of buffaloes are of the swamp type. In the poor remote northern province of Ha Giang in Vietnam, improvement of the swamp buffalo breed may be one of the best ways to increase sustainability of farming systems. Therefore, analysis of the genetic structure of the province buffalo population is a prerequisite to any conservation or improvement project. A total of 1122 animals were described for 11 body and horn measurements for morphometric characterization. From this sample set, 744 animals were genotyped for 17 microsatellite markers. Also 17 animals from southern provinces of Vietnam were genotyped as a comparative sample. The results showed that genetic diversity as well as inbreeding value in the Ha Giang was high. The F(ST) values within the province and across Vietnam were low indicating that most of the population variation is explained by individual variability. Bayesian clustering analysis did not highlight the presence of subdivided populations. These results are useful for the implementation of a conservation and improvement strategy of the swamp buffalo in order to guarantee the householders' needs for sustainability of the farming system in the Ha Giang province.

Morphological characterization of the Azikheli buffalo in Pakistan

“…Information on morphological characteristics is helpful in ensuring effective management and conservation of animal genetic resources with a view to obtaining phenotypically pure local genetic resources for future selection and breed improvement strategies (Yakubu et al, 2010). Berthouly et al (2009) recorded heart girth, body length, height at withers, neck circumference, ear length and thorax depth as appropriate variables to differentiate the local Vietnamese swamp buffalo population from other buffalo breeds. For Pakistani buffalo breeds, such information is limited to heart girth, body length and height at withers, hence comparative measurements shown in Table 4 are limited to these three parameters.…”

Uncontrolled admixture and loss of genetic diversity in a local Vietnamese pig breed

“…They highlighted that grouping breeds according to their geographical distribution was not always consistent because of human migratory movements. While HG cattle and goat populations are structured into subpopulations (Berthouly et al 2009b, 2010), HG chicken and buffalo populations should be considered as one genetic pool (Berthouly et al 2009a, c). Similarly to chickens and buffaloes, the Black H’mong pig population can be considered as one population showing no genetic subdivision.…”

Molecular genetic analysis of a cattle population to reconstitute the extinct Algarvia breed

“…In addition to its cultural and historical relevance, reconstituting this breed could also contribute to reinforce sustainable agriculture, a non negligible component of the economic activity of the region. The use of molecular data to assess the genetic structure of domestic species in conservation programmes has been described [59,61-67]. Analysis of morphological and molecular information provides a more solid basis to define the characteristics of a breed than the use of morphological traits alone.…”