Abstract
The frequency levels of spontaneous sister chromatid exchanges (SCEs) were studied in 4 breeds of goats reared in Egypt namely, Zaraibi, Damascus, Baladi and Sahrawi. Blood samples from 21 animals belonging to these 4 breeds were collected and the lymphocytes were cultured in presence of bromodeoxyuridine. Slides were stained using Hoechst 33258 plus Giemsa technique. Thirty cells in second division were analyzed for each animal and the frequency of SCEs was recorded. The data were statistically analyzed using the Student t-test. The frequencies of sister chromatid exchanges (mean±SD) were 5.36±0.66, 7.95±0.77, 5.72±0.79 and 6.11±0.27 in Zaraibi, Damascus, Baladi and Sahrawi, respectively. Statistical analysis between these 4 breeds showed that the Damascus breed has a significantly high level of SCEs (p<0.001) over the other 3 breeds. Also, a statistically significant difference (p<0.05) was recorded between Zaraibi and Sahrawi breeds.
