Genetic characterization of horse bone excavated from the Kwakji archaeological site, Jeju, Korea.
Abstract: We determined the nucleotide sequences of the hypervariable D-loop region of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) from horse bone (humerus, A.D. 700 to A.D. 800) that was excavated from the Kwakji archaeological site, Jeju, Korea. We compared them with ones from extant horses. We designed three pairs of oligonucleotide primers from the tRNA-Thr and tRNA-Phe gene regions of mtDNA that are highly conserved among many other animal species. We cloned 232, 336, and 644 bp from the horse bone in order to determine the mtDNA D-loop sequence. The sequence was 1,124 bp long; the middle contained 19 tandem repeats of an 8-bp sequence (TGTGCACC) that is specific to equines. The mtDNA D-loop region contained each base (total number, percentage of total) as follows: A (317, 28.20%), C (336, 29.89%), G (169, 15.04%), and T (302, 26.87%). This sequence, like those of other horse populations, was AT rich. Sequence divergence was the lowest (1.71%) between the ancient horse bone and that of the Thoroughbred horse 1. The neighbor-joining and strict consensus tree of three of the most parsimonious trees also suggested that the ancient bone was considerably unrelated to native Jeju horses. The molecular phylogenetic characteristics of the horse bone that was excavated from the Kwakji archaeological site (Jeju, Korea) showed that some horse breeds may have existed on Jeju Island, Korea before Mongolian horses were introduced. The horse bone that was excavated from the Kwakji archaeological site may aid future research on the origin and ancestry of native Jeju horses.
Publication Date: 2002-11-22 PubMed ID: 12442894
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- Journal Article
- Research Support
- Non-U.S. Gov't
Summary
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This study explored the genetic makeup of an ancient horse bone found at the Kwakji archaeological site in Jeju, Korea. The team studied the mtDNA sequence from the bone and compared it with modern horses, providing insights into the ancestries and potential breeds that existed in the region before the introduction of Mongolian horses.
Methodology
- The researchers worked on a horse bone from the Kwakji archaeological site, specifically from a humerus dating between A.D. 700 and A.D. 800.
- The team investigated the D-loop region of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), which is known to be hypervariable, meaning that it is especially prone to mutation and thus useful for studying evolutionary lineages.
- In order to replicate and study the DNA, they designed three pairs of oligonucleotide primers, which served as starting points for DNA synthesis. The primers were derived from two highly conserved gene regions of mtDNA, the tRNA-Thr and tRNA-Phe genes that are common to many animal species.
Results
- Three stretches of DNA were cloned from the horse bone, which added up to a sequence 1,124 base pairs long. This sequence included 19 repetitions of an 8-base pair sequence (TGTGCACC) that is specific to horses.
- The overall makeup of the sequence was found to be notably rich in ‘A’ and ‘T’ nucleotides.
- Comparisons between the DNA from the ancient bone and modern horse breeds showed the lowest sequence divergence (1.71%) with the Thoroughbred horse 1 breed.
Conclusions
- Phylogenetic analysis, which compares the genetic sequences to deduce evolutionary relationships, suggested that the ancient horse from this site was not closely related to modern-day native Jeju horses.
- This information suggests that other horse breeds may have been present on Jeju Island prior to the arrival of Mongolian horses.
- The horse bone and its genetic data from the Kwakji site might be significant for future research on the origins and ancestral lineages of native Jeju horses.
Cite This Article
APA
Jung YH, Han SH, Shin T, Oh MY.
(2002).
Genetic characterization of horse bone excavated from the Kwakji archaeological site, Jeju, Korea.
Mol Cells, 14(2), 224-230.
Publication
Researcher Affiliations
- Department of Life Science, College of Natural Sciences, Cheju National University, Jeju, Korea.
MeSH Terms
- Animals
- Base Sequence
- DNA, Mitochondrial / genetics
- DNA, Mitochondrial / metabolism
- Evolution, Molecular
- Fossils
- Horses / genetics
- Humerus
- Korea
- Molecular Sequence Data
- Phylogeny
- Polymerase Chain Reaction
Citations
This article has been cited 4 times.- Kim YM, Ha SJ, Seong HS, Choi JY, Baek HJ, Yang BC, Choi JW, Kim NY. Identification of Copy Number Variations in Four Horse Breed Populations in South Korea. Animals (Basel) 2022 Dec 12;12(24).
- Srikanth K, Kim NY, Park W, Kim JM, Kim KD, Lee KT, Son JH, Chai HH, Choi JW, Jang GW, Kim H, Ryu YC, Nam JW, Park JE, Kim JM, Lim D. Comprehensive genome and transcriptome analyses reveal genetic relationship, selection signature, and transcriptome landscape of small-sized Korean native Jeju horse. Sci Rep 2019 Nov 13;9(1):16672.
- Kim NY, Seong HS, Kim DC, Park NG, Yang BC, Son JK, Shin SM, Woo JH, Shin MC, Yoo JH, Choi JW. Genome-wide analyses of the Jeju, Thoroughbred, and Jeju crossbred horse populations using the high density SNP array. Genes Genomics 2018 Nov;40(11):1249-1258.
- 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.
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