The water buffalo (Bos Bubalus bubalis) species has been bred in many countries for its incredible production value and benefits to humans. The Buffalypso population in Trinidad and Tobago was an isolated, cross-breed selected for meat production and utilized as well for milk and draft animals. Microsatellite loci are highly polymorphic and are used as ideal markers of genetic variation, commonly used for marker-assisted selection, determination of genetic diversity and genome mapping in Bos species. Limited microsatellite markers have been characterized in water buffalo for use as Quantitative Trait Loci (QTLs). Since the water buffalo and cattle are closely related, cattle derived microsatellite markers were used in this study to genetically characterize 33 individual animals in an isolated Buffalypso population. Ten microsatellite markers were used, but markers BOLADRB1 and MAF45 failed to amplify in any of the 33 samples tested. Unique alleles were observed for all markers that were successfully amplified in the study. The CSSM36 marker was detected in highest proportion of alleles in the Buffalypso population. This pilot project was done to determine proof of principle for expansion to a nationwide Buffalypso genetic characterization study. We propose using comparative genomic tools in a conservation genetics programme in establishment of select breeding groups from the descendants of the Bennett-bred animals, to conserve and optimize traits of production and disease resistance.
Cite this paper
Ramlachan, N. (2023). Genetic Characterization of Selected Buffalypso (Bubalus bubalis) from Trinidad and Tobago for Potential Use in a Conservation Genetics Programme. Open Access Library Journal, 10, e903. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/oalib.1110903.
Amaral, M.E., Owens, K.E., Elliott, J.S., Fickey, C., Schäffer, A.A., Agarwala, R. and Womack, J.E. (2007) Construction of a River Buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) Whole-Genome Radiation Hybrid Panel and Preliminary RH Mapping of Chromosomes 3 and 10. Animal Genetics, 38, 311-314.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2052.2007.01587.x
Moore, S.S., Evans, D., Byrne, K., Barker, J.S., Tan, S.G., Vankan, D. and Hetzel, D.J. (1995) A Set of Polymorphic DNA Microsatellites Useful in Swamp and River Buffalo (Bubalus bubalis). Animal Genetics, 26, 355-359.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2052.1995.tb02674.x
Boichard, D., Grohs, C., Bourgeois, F., Cerqueira, F., Faugeras, R., Neau, A., Rupp, R., Amigues, Y., Boscher, M.Y. and Levéziel, H. (2003) Detection of Genes Influencing Economic Traits in Three French Dairy Cattle Breeds. Genetics Selection Evolution, 35, 77-101. https://doi.org/10.1186/1297-9686-35-1-77
Tantia, M.S., Vijh, R.K., Mishra, B., Kumar, S.T. and Arora, R. (2006) Multilocus Genotyping to Study Population Structure in Three Buffalo Populations of India. Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences, 19, 1071-1078.
https://doi.org/10.5713/ajas.2006.1071
Navani, N., Jain, P.K., Gupta, S., Sisodia, B.S. and Kumar, S. (2002) A Set of Cattle Microsatellite DNA Markers for Genome Analysis of Riverine Buffalo (Bubalus bubalis). Animal Genetics, 33, 149-154.
https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2052.2002.00823.x
Ramlachan, N. (2004) Organization of the Class I Region of the Bovine Major Histocompatibility Complex (BoLA) and the Characterization of a Class I Frameshift Deletion (BoLA-Adel) Prevalent in Feral Bovids. Doctoral Dissertation, Texas A&M University, College Station.
Band, M.R., Larson, J.H., Rebeiz, M., Green, C.A., Heyen, D.W., Donovan, J., Windish, R., Steining, C., Mahyuddin, P., Womack, J.E. and Lewin, H.A. (2000) An Ordered Comparative Map of the Cattle and Human Genomes. Genome Research, 10, 1359-1368. https://doi.org/10.1101/gr.145900
Matukumalli, L.K., Lawley, C.T., Schnabel, R.D., Taylor, J.F., Allan, M.F., Heaton, M.P., O’Connell, J., Moore, S.S., Smith, T.P., Sonstegard, T.S. and Van Tassell, C.P. (2009) Development and Characterization of a High-Density SNP Genotyping Assay for Cattle. PLOS ONE, 4, e5350. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0005350
Bennett, S.P., Garcia, G.W. and Lampkin, P. (2007) The Buffalypso: The Water Buffalo of Trinidad and Tobago. Italian Journal of Animal Science, 6, 179-183.
https://doi.org/10.4081/ijas.2007.s2.179
Bennett, S.P. and Porteus, T.H. (1974) News-West Indian Buffalypso Plays New Role as a Beef Producer. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, 164, 17.
Minervino, A.H.H., Zava, M., Vecchio, D. and Borghese, A. (2020) Bubalus bubalis: A Short Story. Frontiers in Veterinary Science, 7, Article ID: 570413.
https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2020.570413
Bennett, S., Garcia, G. and Lampkin, P. (2010) The Buffalypso: The Water Buffalo of Trinidad and Tobago. Italian Journal of Animal Science, 6, 179-183.
https://doi.org/10.4081/ijas.2007.s2.179
Fosgate, G.T., Diptee, M.D., Ramnanan, A. and Adesiyun, A.A. (2011) Brucellosis in Domestic Water Buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) of Trinidad and Tobago with Comparative Epidemiology to Cattle. Tropical Animal Health and Production, 43, 1479-1486.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11250-011-9846-9
Michelizzi, V.N., Dodson, M.V., Pan, Z., et al. (2010) Water Buffalo Genome Science Comes of Age. International Journal of Biological Sciences, 6, 333-349.
https://doi.org/10.7150/ijbs.6.333
Amaral, M.E., Grant, J.R., Riggs, P.K., et al. (2008) A First Generation Whole Genome RH Map of the River Buffalo with Comparison to Domestic Cattle. BMC Genomics, 9, Article No. 631. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2164-9-631
Young, R., Lefevre, L., Bush, S.J., et al. (2019) A Gene Expression Atlas of the Domestic Water Buffalo (Bubalus bubalis). Frontiers in Genetics, 10, Article No. 668.
https://doi.org/10.3389/fgene.2019.00668
Ramlachan, N. and Muhammad, M. (2023) Sudden Death Post Long Term COVID 19. European Journal of Applied Sciences, 11, 186-199.
https://doi.org/10.14738/aivp.115.15523
Ramlachan, N., Womack, J.E. and Skow, L.C. (2004) Analyses of Bovine Major Histocompatibility (BoLA) Class I Loci Reveal a Novel Frameshift Mutation in a BoLA-A Allele Prevalent in Wild and Feral Bovids. Immunology, 51-62.
