Local origin or external input: modern horse origin in East Asia.
Abstract: Despite decades of research, the horse domestication scenario in East Asia remains poorly understood. The study identified 16 haplogroups with fine-scale phylogenetic resolution using mitochondrial genomes of 317 horse samples. The time to the most recent common ancestor of the 16 haplogroups ranges from [0.8-3.1] thousand years ago (KYA) to [7.9-27.1] KYA. With combined analyses of the mitochondrial control region for 35 extant Przewalski's horses, 3544 modern and 203 ancient horses across the world, researchers provide evidence for that East Asian prevalent haplogroups Q and R were indigenously domesticated or they were involved in numerous distinct genetic components from wild horses in the southern part of East Asia. These events of haplotypes Q and R occurred during 4.7 to 16.3 KYA and 2.1 to 11.5 KYA, respectively. The diffusion of preponderant European haplogroups L from west to East Asia is consistent with the external gene input. Furthermore, genetic differences were detected between northern East Asia and southern East Asia cohorts by Principal Component Analysis, Analysis of Molecular Variance test, the χ test and phylogeographic analyses. All results suggest a complex picture of horse domestication, as well as geographic pattern in East Asia. Both local origin and external input occurred in East Asia horse populations. And besides, there are at least two different domestication or hybridization centers in East Asia.
Publication Date: 2019-11-27 PubMed ID: 31775623PubMed Central: PMC6882189DOI: 10.1186/s12862-019-1532-yGoogle Scholar: Lookup
The Equine Research Bank provides access to a large database of publicly available scientific literature. Inclusion in the Research Bank does not imply endorsement of study methods or findings by Mad Barn.
- Journal Article
- Research Support
- Non-U.S. Gov't
Summary
This research summary has been generated with artificial intelligence and may contain errors and omissions. Refer to the original study to confirm details provided. Submit correction.
This research article unravels the complex origins of modern horses in East Asia, suggesting both local domestication and external influence from European breeds. The research dissects the genetic makeup of thousands of both modern and ancient horses, decoding definitive evidence for both indigenous evolution and external genetic input.
Research Methodology
- The researchers analyzed mitochondrial genomes from 317 horse samples, identifying 16 unique haplogroups that contributed to a deeper understanding of horse phylogeny.
- The time to the most recent common ancestor of these 16 haplogroups ranged from 0.8-3.1 thousand years ago (KYA) up to 7.9-27.1 KYA, giving an idea of the timeline of equine evolution in East Asia.
- Combining this analysis with careful scrutiny of the mitochondrial control region in a broad range of horse samples (including 35 extant Przewalski’s horses, 3544 modern and 203 ancient horses spanning the globe) allowed the scientists to paint a comprehensive picture of both local and globally influenced horse domestication.
Haplogroups and Domestication
- Notably, the Q and R haplogroups, prevalent in East Asia, were found to have been either locally domesticated or have introduced distinct genetic components from wild horses specifically in southern East Asia.
- The researchers also date these events in the Q and R haplogroups to ranges of 4.7 to 16.3 KYA and 2.1 to 11.5 KYA respectively.
European Influence
- Contrarily, the predominance of the European haplogroup L in the east, as analyzed in this study, is indicative of external genes being introduced in the region.
- This corroborates the idea that horse genetics in the region were not solely a product of indigenous development, but also of external influence.
Complex Patterns of Domestication
- Various tests and analyses such as Principal Component Analysis, Analysis of Molecular Variance test, the χ test, and phylogeographic analyses revealed marked genetic differences between northern and southern East Asian horse populations.
- This complex pattern of horse domestication presents a dual narrative: one of local origin and one of external gene input that took place in East Asia.
- Moreover, the study leads to the conclusion that there were at least two separate domestication or hybridization centers in East Asia.
Cite This Article
APA
Ning T, Ling Y, Hu S, Ardalan A, Li J, Mitra B, Chaudhuri TK, Guan W, Zhao Q, Ma Y, Savolainen P, Zhang Y.
(2019).
Local origin or external input: modern horse origin in East Asia.
BMC Evol Biol, 19(1), 217.
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12862-019-1532-y Publication
Researcher Affiliations
- College of Agriculture, Kunming University, Kunming, 650214, Yunnan, China. tiaoning@aliyun.com.
- Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Bio-resource and Key Laboratory for Microbial Resources of the Ministry of Education, Yunnan University, Kunming, 650091, Yunnan, China. tiaoning@aliyun.com.
- Institute of Animal Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100193, China.
- College of Animal Science and Technology, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, 230036, Anhui, China.
- Institute of International Rivers and Eco-security, Yunnan University, Kunming, 650214, Yunnan, China.
- Department of Gene Technology, Science for Life Laboratory, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, SE-171 65, Solna, Sweden.
- College of Agriculture, Kunming University, Kunming, 650214, Yunnan, China.
- The Research Center for Urban Modern Agricultural Engineering of Yunnan Tertiary Education, Kunming University, Kunming, 650214, Yunnan, China.
- Department of Zoology, University of North Bengal, Cellular Immunology Laboratory, Siliguri, West Bengal, 734013, India.
- Department of Zoology, University of North Bengal, Cellular Immunology Laboratory, Siliguri, West Bengal, 734013, India.
- Institute of Animal Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100193, China.
- Institute of Animal Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100193, China.
- Institute of Animal Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100193, China. yuehui.ma@263.net.
- Department of Gene Technology, Science for Life Laboratory, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, SE-171 65, Solna, Sweden. savo@kth.se.
- Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Bio-resource and Key Laboratory for Microbial Resources of the Ministry of Education, Yunnan University, Kunming, 650091, Yunnan, China. zhangyp@mail.kiz.ac.cn.
- State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution Kunming, Yunnan, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhua, 650223, Yunnan, China. zhangyp@mail.kiz.ac.cn.
MeSH Terms
- Animals
- DNA, Mitochondrial / genetics
- Domestication
- Equidae / genetics
- Asia, Eastern
- Gene Flow
- Genetic Variation
- Genome, Mitochondrial
- Haplotypes
- Horses / genetics
- Locus Control Region
- Phylogeny
- Phylogeography
- Principal Component Analysis
Conflict of Interest Statement
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
References
This article includes 57 references
- Bowling AT, Ruvinsky A. The genetics of the horse.. Heredity 2000;85:509.
- Ning T, Li J, Lin K, Xiao H, Wylie S, Hua S, Li H, Zhang YP. Complex evolutionary patterns revealed by mitochondrial genomes of the domestic horse.. Curr Mol Med 2014;14(10):1286-98.
- Ludwig A, Pruvost M, Reissmann M, Benecke N, Brockmann GA, Castaños P, Cieslak M, Lippold S, Llorente L, Malaspinas AS, Slatkin M, Hofreiter M. Coat color variation at the beginning of horse domestication.. Science 2009 Apr 24;324(5926):485.
- Outram AK, Stear NA, Bendrey R, Olsen S, Kasparov A, Zaibert V, Thorpe N, Evershed RP. The earliest horse harnessing and milking.. Science 2009 Mar 6;323(5919):1332-5.
- Cieslak M, Pruvost M, Benecke N, Hofreiter M, Morales A, Reissmann M, Ludwig A. Origin and history of mitochondrial DNA lineages in domestic horses.. PLoS One 2010 Dec 20;5(12):e15311.
- Warmuth V, Eriksson A, Bower MA, Cañon J, Cothran G, Distl O, Glowatzki-Mullis ML, Hunt H, Luís C, do Mar Oom M, Yupanqui IT, Ząbek T, Manica A. European domestic horses originated in two holocene refugia.. PLoS One 2011 Mar 30;6(3):e18194.
- Warmuth V, Eriksson A, Bower MA, Barker G, Barrett E, Hanks BK, Li S, Lomitashvili D, Ochir-Goryaeva M, Sizonov GV, Soyonov V, Manica A. Reconstructing the origin and spread of horse domestication in the Eurasian steppe.. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2012 May 22;109(21):8202-6.
- Lister AM, Kadwell M, Kaagan LM. Ancient and modern DNA from a variety of sources in a study of horse domestication.. Anc Biomol 1998;2:267–280.
- Vilà C, Leonard JA, Gotherstrom A, Marklund S, Sandberg K, Liden K, Wayne RK, Ellegren H. Widespread origins of domestic horse lineages.. Science 2001 Jan 19;291(5503):474-7.
- Jansen T, Forster P, Levine MA, Oelke H, Hurles M, Renfrew C, Weber J, Olek K. Mitochondrial DNA and the origins of the domestic horse.. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2002 Aug 6;99(16):10905-10.
- Der Sarkissian C, Ermini L, Schubert M, Yang MA, Librado P, Fumagalli M, Jónsson H, Bar-Gal GK, Albrechtsen A, Vieira FG, Petersen B, Ginolhac A, Seguin-Orlando A, Magnussen K, Fages A, Gamba C, Lorente-Galdos B, Polani S, Steiner C, Neuditschko M, Jagannathan V, Feh C, Greenblatt CL, Ludwig A, Abramson NI, Zimmermann W, Schafberg R, Tikhonov A, Sicheritz-Ponten T, Willerslev E, Marques-Bonet T, Ryder OA, McCue M, Rieder S, Leeb T, Slatkin M, Orlando L. Evolutionary Genomics and Conservation of the Endangered Przewalski's Horse.. Curr Biol 2015 Oct 5;25(19):2577-83.
- Gaunitz C, Fages A, Hanghøj K, Albrechtsen A, Khan N, Schubert M, Seguin-Orlando A, Owens IJ, Felkel S, Bignon-Lau O, de Barros Damgaard P, Mittnik A, Mohaseb AF, Davoudi H, Alquraishi S, Alfarhan AH, Al-Rasheid KAS, Crubézy E, Benecke N, Olsen S, Brown D, Anthony D, Massy K, Pitulko V, Kasparov A, Brem G, Hofreiter M, Mukhtarova G, Baimukhanov N, Lõugas L, Onar V, Stockhammer PW, Krause J, Boldgiv B, Undrakhbold S, Erdenebaatar D, Lepetz S, Mashkour M, Ludwig A, Wallner B, Merz V, Merz I, Zaibert V, Willerslev E, Librado P, Outram AK, Orlando L. Ancient genomes revisit the ancestry of domestic and Przewalski's horses.. Science 2018 Apr 6;360(6384):111-114.
- Lau AN, Peng L, Goto H, Chemnick L, Ryder OA, Makova KD. Horse domestication and conservation genetics of Przewalski's horse inferred from sex chromosomal and autosomal sequences.. Mol Biol Evol 2009 Jan;26(1):199-208.
- McGahern A, Bower MA, Edwards CJ, Brophy PO, Sulimova G, Zakharov I, Vizuete-Forster M, Levine M, Li S, MacHugh DE, Hill EW. Evidence for biogeographic patterning of mitochondrial DNA sequences in Eastern horse populations.. Anim Genet 2006 Oct;37(5):494-7.
- Oka T, Ino Y, Nomura K, Kawashima S, Kuwayama T, Hanada H, Amano T, Takada M, Takahata N, Hayashi Y, Akishinonomiya F. Analysis of mtDNA sequences shows Japanese native chickens have multiple origins.. Anim Genet 2007 Jun;38(3):287-93.
- Lei CZ, Su R, Bower MA, Edwards CJ, Wang XB, Weining S, Liu L, Xie WM, Li F, Liu RY, Zhang YS, Zhang CM, Chen H. Multiple maternal origins of native modern and ancient horse populations in China.. Anim Genet 2009 Dec;40(6):933-44.
- Yue XP, Qin F, Campana MG, Liu DH, Mao CC, Wang XB, Lan XY, Chen H, Lei CZ. Characterization of cytochrome b diversity in Chinese domestic horses.. Anim Genet 2012 Oct;43(5):624-6.
- Yang Y, Zhu Q, Liu S, Zhao C, Wu C. The origin of Chinese domestic horses revealed with novel mtDNA variants.. Anim Sci J 2017 Jan;88(1):19-26.
- Chen WH. The picture record of Chinese agroarcheology.. Jiangxi: Jiangxi Science and Technology Press; 1994. pp. 491–512.
- Jing Y, Han J, Roger B, Peiros I, Lin M. Livestock in ancient China: an archaeozoological perspective.. In: Sanchez-Mazas A, Blench R, Ross MD, editors. Past human migrations in East Asia: matching archaeology, linguistics and genetics. London: Routledge Press; 2008. pp. 84–104.
- Yoshizaki S. Horse and culture.. Agricultural Archaeology 2. 1987.
- Wang YT. Review on history and correlation question of Chinese Equus.. China Cult Relics News 1998;18:8–12.
- Wang ZJ, Song P. Discussion on the origin of domestic horse in north of China.. Archaeol Cul Relics 2001;2:26–30.
- Xie CX. The breeds records of Chinese horse and donkey.. Shanghai: Shanghai Science and Technology Press; 1985. pp. 1–22.
- Wen HR. The distribution and change of Chinese wild horse and wild donkey during historical period.. In: Wen HR, He YH, Zhang JH, Tan YK, Jiang YL, Gao YT, Wen RS, editors. The change of the plant and animal in China during different historical period. Chongqin: Chongqin Publishing Company; 1995. pp. 240–255.
- Wu GS, Yao YG, Qu KX, Ding ZL, Li H, Palanichamy MG, Duan ZY, Li N, Chen YS, Zhang YP. Population phylogenomic analysis of mitochondrial DNA in wild boars and domestic pigs revealed multiple domestication events in East Asia.. Genome Biol 2007;8(11):R245.
- Achilli A, Olivieri A, Pellecchia M, Uboldi C, Colli L, Al-Zahery N, Accetturo M, Pala M, Hooshiar Kashani B, Perego UA, Battaglia V, Fornarino S, Kalamati J, Houshmand M, Negrini R, Semino O, Richards M, Macaulay V, Ferretti L, Bandelt HJ, Ajmone-Marsan P, Torroni A. Mitochondrial genomes of extinct aurochs survive in domestic cattle.. Curr Biol 2008 Feb 26;18(4):R157-8.
- Pang JF, Kluetsch C, Zou XJ, Zhang AB, Luo LY, Angleby H, Ardalan A, Ekström C, Sköllermo A, Lundeberg J, Matsumura S, Leitner T, Zhang YP, Savolainen P. mtDNA data indicate a single origin for dogs south of Yangtze River, less than 16,300 years ago, from numerous wolves.. Mol Biol Evol 2009 Dec;26(12):2849-64.
- Lari M, Rizzi E, Mona S, Corti G, Catalano G, Chen K, Vernesi C, Larson G, Boscato P, De Bellis G, Cooper A, Caramelli D, Bertorelle G. The complete mitochondrial genome of an 11,450-year-old aurochsen (Bos primigenius) from Central Italy.. BMC Evol Biol 2011 Jan 31;11:32.
- Lippold S, Matzke NJ, Reissmann M, Hofreiter M. Whole mitochondrial genome sequencing of domestic horses reveals incorporation of extensive wild horse diversity during domestication.. BMC Evol Biol 2011 Nov 14;11:328.
- Kavar T, Brem G, Habe F, Sölkner J, Dovc P. History of Lipizzan horse maternal lines as revealed by mtDNA analysis.. Genet Sel Evol 2002 Sep-Oct;34(5):635-48.
- Ronquist F, Huelsenbeck JP. MrBayes 3: Bayesian phylogenetic inference under mixed models.. Bioinformatics 2003 Aug 12;19(12):1572-4.
- Posada D. jModelTest: phylogenetic model averaging.. Mol Biol Evol 2008 Jul;25(7):1253-6.
- Swofford D. PAUP*. Phylogenetic analysis using parsimony (*and other methods). Version 4.. Sunderland: Sinauer Associates; 2002.
- Yao YG, Kong QP, Bandelt HJ, Kivisild T, Zhang YP. Phylogeographic differentiation of mitochondrial DNA in Han Chinese.. Am J Hum Genet 2002 Mar;70(3):635-51.
- Kong QP, Yao YG, Sun C, Bandelt HJ, Zhu CL, Zhang YP. Phylogeny of east Asian mitochondrial DNA lineages inferred from complete sequences.. Am J Hum Genet 2003 Sep;73(3):671-6.
- Torroni A, Achilli A, Macaulay V, Richards M, Bandelt HJ. Harvesting the fruit of the human mtDNA tree.. Trends Genet 2006 Jun;22(6):339-45.
- Teacher AG, Griffiths DJ. HapStar: automated haplotype network layout and visualization.. Mol Ecol Resour 2011 Jan;11(1):151-3.
- Drummond AJ, Rambaut A. BEAST: Bayesian evolutionary analysis by sampling trees.. BMC Evol Biol 2007 Nov 8;7:214.
- Prado JL, Alberdi MT. A cladistic ananlysis of the horses of the tribe Equini.. Palaeontology 1996;39:663–680.
- Eisenmann V, Baylac M. Extant and fossil Equus (Mammalia, Perissodactyla) skulls: a morphometric definition of the subgenus Equus.. Zool Scr 2000;29:89–100.
- Suchard MA, Weiss RE, Sinsheimer JS. Bayesian selection of continuous-time Markov chain evolutionary models.. Mol Biol Evol 2001 Jun;18(6):1001-13.
- Excoffier L, Lischer HE. Arlequin suite ver 3.5: a new series of programs to perform population genetics analyses under Linux and Windows.. Mol Ecol Resour 2010 May;10(3):564-7.
- Achilli A, Olivieri A, Soares P, Lancioni H, Hooshiar Kashani B, Perego UA, Nergadze SG, Carossa V, Santagostino M, Capomaccio S, Felicetti M, Al-Achkar W, Penedo MC, Verini-Supplizi A, Houshmand M, Woodward SR, Semino O, Silvestrelli M, Giulotto E, Pereira L, Bandelt HJ, Torroni A. Mitochondrial genomes from modern horses reveal the major haplogroups that underwent domestication.. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2012 Feb 14;109(7):2449-54.
- Yuan J, Flad R. New Zooarchaeological evidence for changes in Shang dynasty animal sacrifice.. J Anthropol Archaeol 2005;24:252–270.
- Kobayashi Y, Han Z, Li ZZ. Introduction to archaeology in Japan series 8.. Archaeol Cult Relics 1997;6:83–93.
- Mashkour M. Equids in time and space: papers in honour of Véra Eisenmann.. Oxford: Oxbow Books; 2006. p. 240.
- Shao BY. Six livestock species and society in early Qin dynasty.. Argicultural Archaeol 2003;1:239–254.
- Anthony DW. The opening of the Eurasian Steppe at 2000BCE.. In: Victor HM, editor. The Bronze Age and Early Iron Age Peoples of Eastern Central Asia. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Museum; 1998. p. 105.
- Liu Y. Retrospects and prospects for research on Chinese ancient domestic horse.. Cult Relics Southern China 2014;1:74–77.
- Cai D, Tang Z, Hang L, Speller CF, Yang DY, Ma X. Ancient DNA provides new insights into the origin of the Chinese domestic horse.. J Archaeol Sci 2009;36:835–842.
- Bendrey R. New methods for the identification of evidence for bitting on horse remains from archaeological sites.. J Archaeol Sci 2007;34:1036–1050.
- Shi NH. The distribution and change of vegetation in China during historical era.. Hist Geogr Analects in China 1991;3:43–73.
- Gai SL. Grassland ethic civilization along with Silk Road.. Urumchi: Xinjiang People Press; 1996. pp. 26–44.
- Wuen YST. Archaeology Compare study of Grassland culture in Chinese North Steppe.. Beijing: Science Press; 2008. pp. 6–9.
- Zhang YP. The silk road.. Beijing: China Intercontinental Press; 2005.
- Zhou CL, Ling WF, Zhang J. The range and direction of tea horse ancient road.. China Cult Heritage 2010;4:35–41.
Citations
This article has been cited 1 times.- Hong JH, Oh CS, Kim S, Kang IU, Shin DH. Genetic analysis of mitochondrial DNA from ancient Equus caballus bones found at archaeological site of Joseon dynasty period capital area.. Anim Biosci 2022 Aug;35(8):1141-1150.
Use Nutrition Calculator
Check if your horse's diet meets their nutrition requirements with our easy-to-use tool Check your horse's diet with our easy-to-use tool
Talk to a Nutritionist
Discuss your horse's feeding plan with our experts over a free phone consultation Discuss your horse's diet over a phone consultation
Submit Diet Evaluation
Get a customized feeding plan for your horse formulated by our equine nutritionists Get a custom feeding plan formulated by our nutritionists