Domestic goats are distributed worldwide, with approximately 35% of the one billion world goat population occurring in Africa. Ethiopia has 52.5 million goats, ~99.9% of which are considered indigenous landraces deriving from animals introduced to the Horn of Africa in the distant past by nomadic herders. They have continued to be managed by smallholder farmers and semi-mobile pastoralists throughout the region. We report here 57 goat genomes from 12 Ethiopian goat populations sampled from different agro-climates. The data were generated through sequencing DNA samples on the Illumina NovaSeq 6000 platform at a mean depth of 9.71x and 150 bp pair-end reads. In total, ~2 terabytes of raw data were generated, and 99.8% of the clean reads mapped successfully against the goat reference genome assembly at a coverage of 99.6%. About 24.76 million SNPs were generated. These SNPs can be used to study the population structure and genome dynamics of goats at the country, regional, and global levels to shed light on the species’ evolutionary trajectory.

Background. A detailed study on the feed quantity and quality is required to document the available feeds and their nutritional values. Aim. The study was aimed to investigate and document the chemical composition and in vitro dry matter digestibility of major feed resources available in Tanqua-Abergelle district of central Tigray, northern Ethiopia. Methods. Ten different feed resources were evaluated for their nutritive values. Representative feed samples were collected and prepared following appropriate procedures. The samples were subjected to analysis of chemical composition and in vitro dry matter digestibility (IVDMD) using proper scientific procedures. Results. Wide variations were observed in nutritive values of the investigated feeds. The highest crude protein (CP) was measured in Atella (15.90) followed by green grass (13.20), mill waste (10.90), groundnut straw (9.18), and cowpea straw (8.11) in descending order. Mill waste (11.84MJ/kg DM) and Atella (11.81MJ/kg DM) had the highest metabolizable energy (ME) followed by green grass (9.83MJ/kg DM), groundnut straw (9.28MJ/kg DM), Teff straw (8.56MJ/kg DM), and cowpea straw (8.39MJ/kg DM) in that order. The highest NDF was recorded in groundnut null (79.80) and the lowest NDF in mill waste (35.00) and Atella (40.60). The highest IVDMD was seen in mill waste (81.43) and Atella (81.21) and the lowest in groundnut hull (39.95). Conclusion. The nonconventional feeds have moderate protein and reduced fiber contents, and thus, they can be utilized as supplement for poor-quality feeds. These feeds need further investigation using animals to substantiate the current study.

Anthropological and biophysical processes have shaped livestock genomes over Millenia and can explain their current geographic distribution and genetic divergence. We analyzed 57 Ethiopian indigenous domestic goat genomes alongside 67 equivalents of east, west, and north-west African, European, South Asian, Middle East, and wild Bezoar goats. Cluster, ADMIXTURE (K = 4) and phylogenetic analysis revealed four genetic groups comprising African, European, South Asian, and wild Bezoar goats. The Middle Eastern goats had an admixed genome of these four genetic groups. At K = 5, the West African Dwarf and Moroccan goats were separated from East African goats demonstrating a likely historical legacy of goat arrival and dispersal into Africa via the coastal Mediterranean Sea and the Horn of Africa. F_ST, XP-EHH, and Hp analysis revealed signatures of selection in Ethiopian goats overlaying genes for thermo-sensitivity, oxidative stress response, high-altitude hypoxic adaptation, reproductive fitness, pathogen defence, immunity, pigmentation, DNA repair, modulation of renal function and integrated fluid and electrolyte homeostasis. Notable examples include TRPV1 (a nociception gene); PTPMT1 (a critical hypoxia survival gene); RETREG (a regulator of reticulophagy during starvation), and WNK4 (a molecular switch for osmoregulation). These results suggest that human-mediated translocations and adaptation to contrasting environments are shaping indigenous African goat genomes.

Background: Quantitative physical measurements and observable physical traits are used for animal identification and are the first step for long‐term genetic improvement and other developmental interventions.Aim: This study was conducted to characterize phenotypic traits of indigenous chicken ecotypes of Tigray’s eastern and southern zones.Methods: A total of 711 chickens aged 5 months and above were used in these two zones. Sampling was performed in three districts representing midland and highland agroecologies. Multivariate analysis was performed using 13 quantitative variables.Results: Quantitative traits such as live weight, breast width, keel length, thigh circumference, chest circumference, shank length, wing length, earlobe length, and comb length were significantly higher (p < 0.05) in Hawzien chickens in both sexes, which mainly happened due to feed access, veterinary service, and good housing. Similarly, there were morphologically diverse chicken ecotypes in all districts and these traits have their own economic, sociocultural, and esthetic values and resulted in market differences locally. The discriminant analysis also showed that the classification of female and male chickens ranged from 40.5% to 92.3% and 100% to 98.8%, respectively, which indicates higher heterogeneity (59.5%) in female than male chickens. Therefore, identifying both quantitative and qualitative traits of chicken is important for genetic improvements, conservation, and sustainable utilization of chicken genetic resources and opens a door for molecular characterization and other tailored environmental interventions.

This work was carried out in collaboration between both authors. Author MR contributes in data collection, validation, formal analysis and writing original draft. Author SB also contributes on data collection, validation, review and editing. Both authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Despite ancient DNA (aDNA) research revealing valuable bio-cultural insights into livestock domestication, it faces major challenges due to poor preservation, degradation, and contamination, which hinder species identification, data analysis, and interpretation. This study aimed to assess endogenous DNA content, evaluate taxonomic species screening pipelines, and discuss the technical challenges encountered in aDNA analysis. Fourteen Caprinae specimens from four sites in Ethiopia and Eritrea (curated at the Ethiopian Museum) were shotgun sequenced following DNA extraction, library construction, and amplification. Four samples (ST01, ST02, ST09, and ST11) were identified as domestic goats using HAYSTAC, BLAST, and phylogenetic approaches. These samples had previously been identified as goats using osteological criteria. The PALEOMIX pipeline was also used to visualise and quantify post-mortem DNA damage patterns and confirm the authenticity of endogenous DNA. Nuclear and mitochondrial genome coverage was low across all 14 samples (~0.005% and 0.25%, respectively). The four goat samples showed a relatively higher mapping rate when aligned to the goat reference genome assembly (ARS1) using the PALEOMIX pipeline compared to the sheep reference genome (ARS-UI_Ramb_v2.0). Our aDNA samples were significantly degraded due to exogenous and endogenous DNA-damaging factors. As a result, it was challenging to compare the genetics of ancient and modern goat populations further. However, the pipelines, procedures, and approaches used to screen ancient goats from other ancient caprine species, along with visualization and quantification of post-mortem DNA damage patterns, are critically important and can pave the way for further research on ancient goats and other livestock species.