Abstract

The present study was intended to estimate the specific genetic variants by using nine genetic markers among five rabbit breeds (New Zealand White, California, Chinchilla, Flander, and Babion) in Egypt. A total of 128 animals were used (19-35 rabbits per breed). A total of 97 alleles were detected across the breeds and the average number of alleles per locus was 2.16±0.11. Five private alleles were present in Babion breed, where the locus INRACCDDV0023 had two private alleles of 293 and 297 base pairs with allele frequencies of 0.4 and 0.1, respectively. The INRACCDDV0036, INRACCDDV0304, and INRACCDDV0241 loci had private allele for each (185bp (freq: 0.24), 197 (freq: 0.47), and 137bp (freq: 0.26), respectively). The mean of He values ranged from 0.35±0.06 to 0.49±0.07. The average of the polymorphic information content was 0.41 (ranged from 0.298 at INRACCDDV0211 to 0.599 at INRACCDDV0036 locus). To estimate the genetic deviation of the five rabbit breeds, two parameters were evaluated: genetic differentiation (FST), and genetic distance. The FST values varied from 0.029 (INRACCDDV0036) to 0.785 (INRACCDDV0022). The similarity matrix showed that the Chinchilla breed was distinct from other breeds. In addition, among the nine loci, the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium was highly significant for five loci. Therefore, the rabbit breeds are good reservoirs of allelic diversity that is the major basis for genetic improvement. Consequently, the breeders need a formal conservation plan for such breeds that are in danger of extinction in near future.