Genetic diversity of domestic goats from Central Laos

Abstract

<p>Maintaining genetic diversity and variation in livestock populations is critical for allowing natural and artificial selection genetic improvement well as for avoiding inbreeding. The Laotian government and farmers are concerned that there has been a decrease in genetic diversity and an increase in inbreeding among native goats in their village-based smallholder system. The objective of this study was to investigate the genetic diversity of Lao native goats in a small-scale farming system in central Laos using genotype data. The results showed that there was a close genetic relationship between Lao native goats with Chinese goat breeds and a low to moderate genetic differentiation among goat populations in Central Laos ranging from 0.0112 to 0.0427. This goat population had close to zero inbreeding coefficients (-0.093 to 0.052).</p>