| dc.description.abstract | The indigenous Tswana constitutes 71% of the Botswana goat population (Botswana statistics, 2013). It is well adapted to the harsh conditions of the country such as poor nutrition, frequent droughts, high heat, diseases and parasites (Nsoso et al., 2004). These goats are mostly kept by rural farmers in the communal areas under traditional management systems and contribute significantly to food security, socio-economic and cultural needs. Due to their large numbers, they are a source of foundational stock for breed improvement programs in the country. However, there is a danger that indiscriminate crossbreeding and replacement with exotic breeds may result in the loss of the Tswana as a unique indigenous genetic resource in Botswana. Genomic information of indigenous breeds contributes to designing effective strategies for improving productivity, breed development and conservation programs. It also provides an insight into population structure and relationships between breeds (Kim et al., 2016). Most studies on indigenous goats to date have been performed using microsatellite markers including, Tswana goats (Maletsanake et al., 2013), South African goats (Pieters et al., 2009) and indigenous types of sub-Saharan Africa (Chenyambuga et al., 2004). More recently Lashmar et al. (2016) and Mdladla et al. (2016) have used the Goat50K SNP array to characterise different indigenous South African goat breeds. In Botswana, no molecular-based research on SNPs has been performed to genetically characterize the indigenous goats. This study aims to evaluate the genetic diversity and population structure of indigenous Tswana goat in the Central region of Botswana using the Illumina Goat50K SNP chip. | en_US |
