• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.726-732
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• 2004

In this manuscript, a review of the diversity of Chinese indigenous goat breeds according to data from body stature and appearance, chromosome group, blood proteins, DNA molecular markers (mitochondria DNA, random amplified polymorphic DNA, microsatellite DNA, major histocompatibility complex) has been introduced. All of these provide efficient tools for the diversity analysis of Chinese indigenous goat breeds and are very important for biodiversity conservation, restoration of declining goat breeds, the priority defining in Chinese indigenous goat breeds' protection and the selection of nature preservation zones. Many Chinese indigenous goat breeds with small population size in the isolated mountains or reservoir areas are verging the potential threat of extinction, effectively lost with the rapid destroying of ecological environment. On the other hand, as a result of the introduction of modern commercial goat breeds and shortage of effective conservation, some populations, such as Small-xiang goat and Tibetan goat decrease rapidly in number of sires. In the interests of the long-term future of the goat breeds in China, conservation of goat breeds' genetic resources should be considered urgently and some conservation measures should be adopted. In addition, the continuing development of molecular biology will further enhance conservation of diversity of Chinese indigenous goat breeds.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.177-182
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• 2012

To investigate the genetic diversity of seven Chinese indigenous meat goat breeds (Tibet goat, Guizhou white goat, Shannan white goat, Yichang white goat, Matou goat, Changjiangsanjiaozhou white goat and Anhui white goat), explain their genetic relationship and assess their integrity and degree of admixture, 302 individuals from these breeds and 42 Boer goats introduced from Africa as reference samples were genotyped for 11 microsatellite markers. Results indicated that the genetic diversity of Chinese indigenous meat goats was rich. The mean heterozygosity and the mean allelic richness (AR) for the 8 goat breeds varied from 0.697 to 0.738 and 6.21 to 7.35, respectively. Structure analysis showed that Tibet goat breed was genetically distinct and was the first to separate and the other Chinese goats were then divided into two sub-clusters: Shannan white goat and Yichang white goat in one cluster; and Guizhou white goat, Matou goat, Changjiangsanjiaozhou white goat and Anhui white goat in the other cluster. This grouping pattern was further supported by clustering analysis and Principal component analysis. These results may provide a scientific basis for the characteristization, conservation and utilization of Chinese meat goats.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.32 no.10
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• pp.1501-1510
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• 2019

Objective: An experiment was conducted to evaluate genetic diversity of 26 Chinese indigenous goats by 30 microsatellite markers, and then to define conservation priorities to set up the protection programs according to the weight given to within- and between-breed genetic diversity. Methods: Twenty-six representative populations of Chinese indigenous goats, 1,351 total, were sampled from different geographic regions of China. Within-breed genetic diversity and marker polymorphism were estimated calculating the mean number of alleles, observed heterozygosities, expected heterozygosities, fixation index, effective number of alleles and allelic richness. Conservation priorities were analyzed by statistical methods. Results: A relatively high level of genetic diversity was found in twenty-four population; the exceptions were in the Daiyun and Fuqing goat populations. Within-breed kinship coefficient matrices identified seven highly inbred breeds which should be of concern. Of these, six breeds receive a negative contribution to heterozygosity when the method was based on proportional contribution to heterozygosity. Based on Weitzman or Piyasatian and Kinghorn methods, the breeds distant from others i.e. Inner Mongolia Cashmere goat, Chengdu Brown goat and Leizhou goat obtain a high ranking. Evidence from Caballero and Toro and Fabuel et al method prioritized Jining Gray goat, Liaoning Cashmere goat, and Inner Mongolia Cashmere goat, which agree with results from Kinship-based methods. Conclusion: Conservation priorities were determined according to multiple methods. Our results suggest Inner Mongolia Cashmere goat (most methods), Jining Gray goat and Liaoning Cashmere goat (high contribution to heterozygosity and total diversity) should be prioritized based on most methods. Furthermore, Daiyun goat and Shannan White goat also should be prioritized based on consideration of effective population size. However, if one breed can continually survive under changing conditions, the straightforward approach would be to increase its utilization and attraction for production via mining breed germplasm characteristics.