HAEMOGLOBIN POLYMORPHISM OF GOATS IN SOUTHERN KADUNA

Abstract

Blood samples were collected in heparinized test tubes from 100 smallholder goats in four local government areas (Jema‘a, Kaura, Jaba, and Kachia) of Southern Kaduna. The blood samples were collected and analysed by electrophoresis to study the haemoglobin polymorphism and its frequency in indigenous smallholder goats found in Southern Kaduna. The electrophoretic test showed the presence of two co-dominant alleles HbA and HbB which produced two haemoglobin phenotypes: A homozygote HbAA and heterozygote HbAB; HbBB was not detected in this study. HbAA (61%) had the highest frequency over HbAB (39%). The gene frequency of HbA (0.805) exceeded HbB (0.195) significantly. The high preponderance of HbA allele is seen as an adaptation due to several environmental factors such as height above sea level (altitude) for oxygen utilization, temperature extremes, and presence of parasitic helminthes. The chi-square test showed high significant differences between observed and expected genotype frequencies (P<0.01). Thus, indicating that the flock was not in Hardy-Weinberg‘s equilibrium