Asian horses deepen the MSY phylogeny.
- Journal Article
Summary
This research focuses on the genetic diversity among horse breeds, with a special focus on Asian horses. It studies the Y-chromosomal phylogeny of modern horses and how different breeding strategies over time have led to the diversity seen in existing horse breeds.
Context and Objectives
The researchers delve into the history of horse population, shaped significantly by human interventions in breeding since domestication roughly 5500 years ago. Their study aims to:
- Illuminate the paternal origin of modern horse breeds, primarily through comparative analysis of the Y chromosome.
- Discover different breeding strategies that resulted in the formation of extant breeds.
Methodology
Researchers expanded upon a previous dataset based on 1.46 Mb of the male-specific Y (MSY) chromosome by adding 52 samples from numerous global breeds:
- Five European horse breeds
- Two American horse breeds
- Seven Asian horse breeds
Findings
Following the trend observed in the prior study, almost all modern European horses fall into a single prominent group, linked through a few native Northern European lineages to the Przewalski’s Horse, an ancestral outgroup.
- In total, 42 MSY haplotypes are now distinguished, determined by 158 variants within domestic horses.
- Asian horses exhibit significantly higher diversity than that previously observed in European breeds.
Conclusions
The research introduced a deep split to horse phylogeny, with a preliminary date set to around 5527 ± 872 years. The scientists posited that the deep-splitting Asian Y haplotypes are remnants of a much more diverse ancient horse population. Over time, the diverse haplotypes were lost in other lineages but managed to persist in Asian breeds, illustrating the rich genetic heritage of these horses. The study thus highlights the crucial role of Asian horses in understanding the history and genetic diversity of modern horse breeds.
Cite This Article
Publication
Researcher Affiliations
- Institute of Animal Breeding and Genetics, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
- Vienna Graduate School of Population Genetics, Vienna, Austria.
- Institute of Animal Breeding and Genetics, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
- Institute of Animal Breeding and Genetics, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
- Institute of Genetics, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
- Institute of Genetics, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
- Lehrstuhl für Tierzucht, Technische Universität München, Freising, Germany.
- Agroscope, Swiss National Stud Farm, Avenches, Switzerland.
- Agroscope, Swiss National Stud Farm, Avenches, Switzerland.
- Department of Animal Breeding and Genetics, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden.
- Department of Animal Breeding and Genetics, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden.
- Science for Life Laboratory, Department of Medical Biochemistry and Microbiology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
- Institut für Populationsgenetik, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
- Department of Microbiology and Ecosystem Science, Division of Computational Systems Biology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
- Institute of Animal Breeding and Genetics, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
- Institute of Animal Breeding and Genetics, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
MeSH Terms
- Animals
- Domestication
- Horses / classification
- Horses / genetics
- Male
- Phylogeny
- Y Chromosome
Grant Funding
- W 1225 / Austrian Science Fund FWF
Citations
This article has been cited 15 times.- Giontella A, Cardinali I, Sarti FM, Silvestrelli M, Lancioni H. Y-Chromosome Haplotype Report among Eight Italian Horse Breeds.. Genes (Basel) 2023 Aug 9;14(8).
- Bozlak E, Radovic L, Remer V, Rigler D, Allen L, Brem G, Stalder G, Castaneda C, Cothran G, Raudsepp T, Okuda Y, Moe KK, Moe HH, Kounnavongsa B, Keonouchanh S, Van NH, Vu VH, Shah MK, Nishibori M, Kazymbet P, Bakhtin M, Zhunushov A, Paul RC, Dashnyam B, Nozawa K, Almarzook S, Brockmann GA, Reissmann M, Antczak DF, Miller DC, Sadeghi R, von Butler-Wemken I, Kostaras N, Han H, Manglai D, Abdurasulov A, Sukhbaatar B, Ropka-Molik K, Stefaniuk-Szmukier M, Lopes MS, da Câmara Machado A, Kalashnikov VV, Kalinkova L, Zaitev AM, Novoa-Bravo M, Lindgren G, Brooks S, Rosa LP, Orlando L, Juras R, Kunieda T, Wallner B. Refining the evolutionary tree of the horse Y chromosome.. Sci Rep 2023 Jun 2;13(1):8954.
- Cardinali I, Giontella A, Tommasi A, Silvestrelli M, Lancioni H. Unlocking Horse Y Chromosome Diversity.. Genes (Basel) 2022 Dec 2;13(12).
- Radovic L, Remer V, Krcal C, Rigler D, Brem G, Rayane A, Driss K, Benamar M, Machmoum M, Piro M, Krischke D, Butler-Wemken IV, Wallner B. Y Chromosome Haplotypes Enlighten Origin, Influence, and Breeding History of North African Barb Horses.. Animals (Basel) 2022 Sep 27;12(19).
- Remer V, Bozlak E, Felkel S, Radovic L, Rigler D, Grilz-Seger G, Stefaniuk-Szmukier M, Bugno-Poniewierska M, Brooks S, Miller DC, Antczak DF, Sadeghi R, Cothran G, Juras R, Khanshour AM, Rieder S, Penedo MC, Waiditschka G, Kalinkova L, Kalashnikov VV, Zaitsev AM, Almarzook S, Reißmann M, Brockmann GA, Brem G, Wallner B. Y-Chromosomal Insights into Breeding History and Sire Line Genealogies of Arabian Horses.. Genes (Basel) 2022 Jan 26;13(2).
- Liu S, Fu C, Yang Y, Zhang Y, Ma H, Xiong Z, Ling Y, Zhao C. Current genetic conservation of Chinese indigenous horses revealed with Y-chromosomal and mitochondrial DNA polymorphisms.. G3 (Bethesda) 2021 Feb 9;11(2).
- Nguyen TB, Paul RC, Okuda Y, LE TNA, Pham PTK, Kaissar KJ, Kazhmurat A, Bibigul S, Bakhtin M, Kazymbet P, Maratbek SZ, Meldebekov A, Nishibori M, Ibi T, Tsuji T, Kunieda T. Genetic characterization of Kushum horses in Kazakhstan based on haplotypes of mtDNA and Y chromosome, and genes associated with important traits of the horses.. J Equine Sci 2020 Oct;31(3):35-43.
- Liu S, Yang Y, Pan Q, Sun Y, Ma H, Liu Y, Wang M, Zhao C, Wu C. Ancient Patrilineal Lines and Relatively High ECAY Diversity Preserved in Indigenous Horses Revealed With Novel Y-Chromosome Markers.. Front Genet 2020;11:467.
- Raudsepp T, Finno CJ, Bellone RR, Petersen JL. Ten years of the horse reference genome: insights into equine biology, domestication and population dynamics in the post-genome era.. Anim Genet 2019 Dec;50(6):569-597.
- Sild E, Värv S, Kaart T, Kantanen J, Popov R, Viinalass H. Maternal and paternal genetic variation in Estonian local horse breeds in the context of geographically adjacent and distant Eurasian breeds.. Anim Genet 2019 Dec;50(6):757-760.
- Castaneda C, Juras R, Khanshour A, Randlaht I, Wallner B, Rigler D, Lindgren G, Raudsepp T, Cothran EG. Population Genetic Analysis of the Estonian Native Horse Suggests Diverse and Distinct Genetics, Ancient Origin and Contribution from Unique Patrilines.. Genes (Basel) 2019 Aug 20;10(8).
- Felkel S, Wallner B, Chuluunbat B, Yadamsuren A, Faye B, Brem G, Walzer C, Burger PA. A First Y-Chromosomal Haplotype Network to Investigate Male-Driven Population Dynamics in Domestic and Wild Bactrian Camels.. Front Genet 2019;10:423.
- Fages A, Hanghøj K, Khan N, Gaunitz C, Seguin-Orlando A, Leonardi M, McCrory Constantz C, Gamba C, Al-Rasheid KAS, Albizuri S, Alfarhan AH, Allentoft M, Alquraishi S, Anthony D, Baimukhanov N, Barrett JH, Bayarsaikhan J, Benecke N, Bernáldez-Sánchez E, Berrocal-Rangel L, Biglari F, Boessenkool S, Boldgiv B, Brem G, Brown D, Burger J, Crubézy E, Daugnora L, Davoudi H, de Barros Damgaard P, de Los Ángeles de Chorro Y de Villa-Ceballos M, Deschler-Erb S, Detry C, Dill N, do Mar Oom M, Dohr A, Ellingvåg S, Erdenebaatar D, Fathi H, Felkel S, Fernández-Rodríguez C, García-Viñas E, Germonpré M, Granado JD, Hallsson JH, Hemmer H, Hofreiter M, Kasparov A, Khasanov M, Khazaeli R, Kosintsev P, Kristiansen K, Kubatbek T, Kuderna L, Kuznetsov P, Laleh H, Leonard JA, Lhuillier J, Liesau von Lettow-Vorbeck C, Logvin A, Lõugas L, Ludwig A, Luis C, Arruda AM, Marques-Bonet T, Matoso Silva R, Merz V, Mijiddorj E, Miller BK, Monchalov O, Mohaseb FA, Morales A, Nieto-Espinet A, Nistelberger H, Onar V, Pálsdóttir AH, Pitulko V, Pitskhelauri K, Pruvost M, Rajic Sikanjic P, Rapan Papeša A, Roslyakova N, Sardari A, Sauer E, Schafberg R, Scheu A, Schibler J, Schlumbaum A, Serrand N, Serres-Armero A, Shapiro B, Sheikhi Seno S, Shevnina I, Shidrang S, Southon J, Star B, Sykes N, Taheri K, Taylor W, Teegen WR, Trbojević Vukičević T, Trixl S, Tumen D, Undrakhbold S, Usmanova E, Vahdati A, Valenzuela-Lamas S, Viegas C, Wallner B, Weinstock J, Zaibert V, Clavel B, Lepetz S, Mashkour M, Helgason A, Stefánsson K, Barrey E, Willerslev E, Outram AK, Librado P, Orlando L. Tracking Five Millennia of Horse Management with Extensive Ancient Genome Time Series.. Cell 2019 May 30;177(6):1419-1435.e31.
- Felkel S, Vogl C, Rigler D, Dobretsberger V, Chowdhary BP, Distl O, Fries R, Jagannathan V, Janečka JE, Leeb T, Lindgren G, McCue M, Metzger J, Neuditschko M, Rattei T, Raudsepp T, Rieder S, Rubin CJ, Schaefer R, Schlötterer C, Thaller G, Tetens J, Velie B, Brem G, Wallner B. The horse Y chromosome as an informative marker for tracing sire lines.. Sci Rep 2019 Apr 15;9(1):6095.
- Rooney MF, Hill EW, Kelly VP, Porter RK. The "speed gene" effect of myostatin arises in Thoroughbred horses due to a promoter proximal SINE insertion.. PLoS One 2018;13(10):e0205664.