Genomic variation and population structure of Nubian goats in African context in comparison to Anglo Nubian goat breeds

• Applicant: Dr. Siham Rahmatalla
• Subject Area: Animal Breeding, Animal Nutrition, Animal Husbandry
• Term: since 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 465846567

Nubian goats are found widespread in many countries in North Eastern Africa. In African countries such as Sudan (Nubian) goats provide a level of self-sufficiency and food security for their owners by providing a robust source of milk and meat. However, indigenous African goat breeds are not very productive and owners tend to accumulate large herds that damage the environment by putting a lot of pressure on farm land and already scarce water resources. To improve the productivity of indigenous African breeds, breeding programs have been started in countries such as Sudan which aim to improved milk performance. Improved productivity will lead to more food security while reducing the ecological impact. Nubian goats from Africa were imported in the latter half of the 19th century and cross-breeding with the native Old English goats and Jamunapari Indian goats to create the modern Anglo-Nubian breed. This derived goat breed is found widely distributed across the globe. Because of the shared origin between Nubian and Anglo-Nubian, the improvements of milk yield for Anglo-Nubian goats might be transferable to Nubian and Vice-Versa. If so, then results from this research might help to improve goat milk production globally. The first aim of the proposed project is to identify genomic regions in Sudanese Nubian goats that are associated with milk production under the harsh environmental conditions in Sudan. The second aim is to identify the genetic variations and maternal links among Nubian goat population from North and East Africa as well as from the Anglo-Nubian and Old English goats in United Kingdom and Jamunapari goat from India. The third aim is to identify regions under selection for high milk production and fertility in Anglo-Nubian that can be use in the future breeding program to improve the Nubian goats in Africa. The fourth aim is to identify regions in the genome responsible for local adaptation to different environments. Goat breeds in this study differ considerably from one another in terms of phenotypic characteristics and are adapted to a wide range of climatic conditions. Although Nubian goats play an important role in milk production and the rural economy in Africa, this breed has not yet been given the necessary attention. As a result, Nubian goats are scarcely phenotypically characterized and genetically explored which impedes the genetic selection and improvement of this breed in African countries.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants