Ancient trade routes shaped the genetic structure of horses in eastern Eurasia.
Abstract: Animal exchange networks have been shown to play an important role in determining gene flow among domestic animal populations. The Silk Road is one of the oldest continuous exchange networks in human history, yet its effectiveness in facilitating animal exchange across large geographical distances and topographically challenging landscapes has never been explicitly studied. Horses are known to have been traded along the Silk Roads; however, extensive movement of horses in connection with other human activities may have obscured the genetic signature of the Silk Roads. To investigate the role of the Silk Roads in shaping the genetic structure of horses in eastern Eurasia, we analysed microsatellite genotyping data from 455 village horses sampled from 17 locations. Using least-cost path methods, we compared the performance of models containing the Silk Roads as corridors for gene flow with models containing single landscape features. We also determined whether the recent isolation of former Soviet Union countries from the rest of Eurasia has affected the genetic structure of our samples. The overall level of genetic differentiation was low, consistent with historically high levels of gene flow across the study region. The spatial genetic structure was characterized by a significant, albeit weak, pattern of isolation by distance across the continent with no evidence for the presence of distinct genetic clusters. Incorporating landscape features considerably improved the fit of the data; however, when we controlled for geographical distance, only the correlation between genetic differentiation and the Silk Roads remained significant, supporting the effectiveness of this ancient trade network in facilitating gene flow across large geographical distances in a topographically complex landscape.
© 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Publication Date: 2013-10-09 PubMed ID: 24118338DOI: 10.1111/mec.12491Google Scholar: Lookup
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- Journal Article
- Research Support
- Non-U.S. Gov't
Summary
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This study investigates how the ancient Silk Road trade routes influenced the genetic makeup of horses across eastern Eurasia.
Research Background
- The Silk Road, one of the oldest continuous exchange networks in human history, is known to have been used for trading horses, among other things.
- The paper explores the extent to which this trade network influenced gene flow among horse populations across large geographic areas and challenging landscapes.
- Previous research highlighted the role of animal exchange networks in determining gene flow among domestic animal populations. However, evidence of such influence by the Silk Road on horse populations wasn’t previously explored.
Research Methodology
- The researchers analyzed microsatellite genotyping data from 455 horses sampled from 17 locations for this study.
- Their approach involved comparing models with the Silk Roads as corridors for gene flow against those containing single landscape features using least-cost path methods.
- Besides, the research also studied the impact of the recent isolation of former Soviet Union countries on the genetic structure of the sampled horses.
Research Findings
- The research found a low level of genetic differentiation among the sampled horses which suggests historically high levels of gene flow across the region.
- The spatial genetic structure revealed a weak, but significant, pattern of isolation by distance across the continent.
- No evidence of distinct genetic clusters was found, indicating a lack of geographic barriers to gene flow.
- The correlation between genetic differentiation and the Silk Roads remained significant even after controlling for geographical distance, confirming the influence of this ancient trade network.
Research Conclusion
- The research concludes that the Silk Road played a significant role in facilitating gene flow among horse populations across large geographic distances and across topographically complex landscapes.
Cite This Article
APA
Warmuth VM, Campana MG, Eriksson A, Bower M, Barker G, Manica A.
(2013).
Ancient trade routes shaped the genetic structure of horses in eastern Eurasia.
Mol Ecol, 22(21), 5340-5351.
https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.12491 Publication
Researcher Affiliations
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3EJ, UK.
MeSH Terms
- Animals
- Archaeology
- Asia
- Commerce
- Europe, Eastern
- Evolution, Molecular
- Gene Flow
- Gene Frequency
- Genetic Variation
- Genotype
- Geography
- Horses / genetics
- Humans
- Microsatellite Repeats
- Models, Genetic
- Principal Component Analysis
Grant Funding
- BB/H005854/1 / Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
Citations
This article has been cited 6 times.- Cardinali I, Giontella A, Tommasi A, Silvestrelli M, Lancioni H. Unlocking Horse Y Chromosome Diversity. Genes (Basel) 2022 Dec 2;13(12).
- Lado S, Elbers JP, Doskocil A, Scaglione D, Trucchi E, Banabazi MH, Almathen F, Saitou N, Ciani E, Burger PA. Genome-wide diversity and global migration patterns in dromedaries follow ancient caravan routes. Commun Biol 2020 Jul 16;3(1):387.
- Yoon SH, Lee W, Ahn H, Caetano-Anolles K, Park KD, Kim H. Origin and spread of Thoroughbred racehorses inferred from complete mitochondrial genome sequences: Phylogenomic and Bayesian coalescent perspectives. PLoS One 2018;13(9):e0203917.
- Loog L, Mirazón Lahr M, Kovacevic M, Manica A, Eriksson A, Thomas MG. Estimating mobility using sparse data: Application to human genetic variation. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2017 Nov 14;114(46):12213-12218.
- Yoon SH, Kim J, Shin D, Cho S, Kwak W, Lee HK, Park KD, Kim H. Complete mitochondrial genome sequences of Korean native horse from Jeju Island: uncovering the spatio-temporal dynamics. Mol Biol Rep 2017 Apr;44(2):233-242.
- Librado P, Fages A, Gaunitz C, Leonardi M, Wagner S, Khan N, Hanghøj K, Alquraishi SA, Alfarhan AH, Al-Rasheid KA, Der Sarkissian C, Schubert M, Orlando L. The Evolutionary Origin and Genetic Makeup of Domestic Horses. Genetics 2016 Oct;204(2):423-434.
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