KARYOTYPE OF ASSAM LOCAL GOATS (CAPRA HIRCUS)

Studies on karyotype were made on Assam local goats maintained at the Goat Research Station, Assam Agricultural University, Burnihat by using short term peripheral blood lymphocyte culture technique. The diploid number of chromosomes was found to be 60 irrespective of the sexes. The normal karyotype was characterized by 29 pairs of acrocentric autosomes of continuously decreasing length, the largest acrocentric X-chromosome and the smallest metacentric Y-chromosome. No significant differences in the relative length of chromosomes between sexes were observed. Idiograms were prepared using the mean relative length of chromosomes according to the sexes.