Parentage verification in field progeny testing program of Mehsana buffalo

The present study was undertaken to construct a multiplex microsatellite panel for parentage testing in Mehsana buffalo (Bubalus bubalis). The study was based on a total of 212 Mehsana buffalos (100 dams, 100 daughters, and 12 sires). Genomic DNA was extracted from blood and semen samples. A panel of 10 microsatellite markers (CSSM61, ILSTS29, ILSTS17, ILSTS28, CSSM57, CSSM22, ILSTS61, CSSM8, ETH152, and ILSTS11) was amplified in a single multiplex reaction and analyzed by capillary electrophoresis on an automated DNA sequencer. The expected heterozygosity ranged from 0.642 to 0.833 (mean 0.762). The total exclusion probability using 10 microsatellite loci with 1 known parent was 0.993. Seven out of 10 microsatellite loci revealed relatively high polymorphic information content (>0.7). Eighty-one daughters out of 100 daughters qualified by compatibility according to Mendelism. The results suggest that multiplex microsatellite panel is a fast, robust, reliable, and economic tool to verify the parentage as well as to assign the putative sire to daughters under progeny testing with very high accuracy and hence can be used in routine parentage testing.