TITLE:
Molecular studies on the Creole cattle breed in Mauritius
AUTHORS:
Olivier Pasnin, V. M. Ranghoo-Sanmukhiya
KEYWORDS:
Creole Cows; Friesian Cows; DNA Extraction; Microsatellites; RAPDS
JOURNAL NAME:
Advances in Bioscience and Biotechnology,
Vol.4 No.10,
October
16,
2013
ABSTRACT: There are three main cattle breeds in Mauritius;
the Friesian cows, the Creole cows and the Cross (Creole and Friesians) breeds.
The main objective of the study was to differentiate the Creole breeds from
the other two breeds thus valorizing and conserving the Creole cow which is in
danger of extinction. Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA and random microsatellite
analysis were the two PCR based techniques used. The populations studied
consisted of 5 Friesians, 5 Creole breeds and 5 Cross breeds. The breeds were
obtained from the Curepipe Livestock Research Station which is the only place
where there is a record of Creole cows in Mauritius. Among the 5 Creoles
breeds chosen, 2 of them could have been impure breeds due to their
morphological characteristics. DNA extraction was carried out from blood
taken from the cows selected, and yielded DNA of good quality and quantity.
Polymorphic bands were obtained from the Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA
primers and random microsatellite primers and the data obtained were used for
constructing a dendogram. From the dendogram obtained, the breeds were
separated and the two Creole samples, which were suspected to be impure, formed
different clusters from the true Creole breeds. From the results obtained,
the Creole breed was easily distinguishable from the other breeds studied using
molecular techniques.