Evaluation of Genetic Variation of Local and Holstein Cattle by RAPD-PCR Technique

The present study has been conducted in the laboratory of Molecular Genetic/ College of Agriculture/ University of Basra during 2017 to evaluate the genetic variations and similarity between local breed and Holstein breed using the technique of RAPD-PCR. A total of 60 blood samples were collected from Al-Qadissya governorate, which was 30 local breed samples and 30 Holstein breed samples. The DNAs of examined samples were extracted and used as a template for RAPD-PCR by employing five different RAPD primers which were OPC-01, OPC-04, OPC-06, OPC-07, and OPC-09. All of the used primers showed polymorphism results with an exception for the primer of OPC-04 which failed to amplify the DNAs in all examined samples. The result of all primer showed a range of amplified band of 100-1000 bp. The total number of amplified bands in the local breed was 187 bands divided into 185 (98.4 %) polymorphic bands and three monomorphic bands. Holstein showed a total of 148 amplified bands, 144 (98.4 %) polymorphic bands and four monomorphic bands. The lowest molecular weight of DNA products in the local and Holstein breeds was 100 bp. Both examined breeds shared a total of 64 bands. The genetic similarity and variations between local and y breed were found to be 16.17 % and 83.83 % respectively, while the highest genetic similarity was observed in the primer OPC-09 which was 35.06 %, the lowest genetic similarity was observed in the primer OPC-07 which was 6.15 %. Generally, the genetic variations seems to be high (80 %) in all employed RAPD primers. Total, within and between genetic diversity was 46.86 %, 41.02 % and 12.46 % with a gene flow of 3.512. These results could be attributed to the fact that the Holstein breed was under continuous selection under different environmental conditions for long periods of milk production, while the local breed did not expose to any type of selections until the time of the study.