Implication of phenotypic and molecular characterization to breed differentiation of Ethiopian cattle. A review

Published and unpublished (MSc and PhD thesis works) were used to assess the achievements and limitations of phenotypic and molecular characterization studies towards breed differentiation of Ethiopian cattle. Accordingly, listing cattle breeds which are believed to exist, identification of their distribution areas, revealing their unique features, as well as reporting their morphometric measurement values were among the achievements of phenotypic characterization studies. However, the small area coverage, lack of uniform breed naming and lack of consistency during recording were the limitations of the phenotypic characterizations which contributed to their failure in quantification of the degree of relationships among adjacent breeds. On the other hand, molecular characterization studies achieved reporting the assessment of within breed genetic diversity and among breed differentiation. However, contradictions of the molecular studies to each other as well as contradictions to the traditional breed differentiation which was based on the phenotypic characteristics and geographical distances among the breeds was observed. Moreover, lack of using appropriate breed naming and the use of few sample size was observed as the limitations of the molecular characterization studies. The overall results of the phenotypic and molecular characterization studies undertaken so far were found to be less comprehensive mainly towards breed differentiation and registration. This lack of complete information on breed differentiation hinders the design of breed-specific conservation and sustainable utilization breeding programs. Therefore, further well-designed and inclusive phenotypic and molecular characterization using modern technologies with the objective of breed differentiation is recommended alongside the use of uniform breed naming.