FREE SHIPPING over $40
OVER 10000 FIVE-STAR REVIEWS
5% OFF ALL SUBSCRIPTIONS
100% HAPPINESS GUARANTEE
Analyze Diet
0
Animal genetics2019; 50(6); 757-760; doi: 10.1111/age.12835

Maternal and paternal genetic variation in Estonian local horse breeds in the context of geographically adjacent and distant Eurasian breeds.

Abstract: The maternal and paternal genetic variation of horse breeds from the Baltic Sea region, including three local Estonian breeds, was assessed and compared with that of Altai and Yakutian horses. In the mtDNA D-loop region, 72 haplotypes assigned to 20 haplogroups in the nine breeds were detected. In Estonian local breeds, 38 mtDNA haplotypes were found, and five of them were shared by the three breeds. More than 60% of all identified haplotypes were rare. Compared with the Estonian Native and Estonian Heavy Draught breeds, a higher haplotypic diversity was found in the Tori breed (h = 0.969). Moreover, four haplotypes shared among Finnish and Estonian local horse breeds indicated ancient ancestry, and of these, H30 (haplogroup D3) showed global sharing and genetic links between modern Baltic Sea region and Siberian horses, specifically. The studied breed set showed high variability in maternal inheritance and mixed patterns of the international and native breeds of the Siberian and Baltic regions. No variation was found in paternally inherited markers among horse breeds in the Baltic Sea region.
© 2019 The Authors. Animal Genetics published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Stichting International Foundation for Animal Genetics.
Get Full Text
Publication Date: 2019-09-02 PubMed ID: 31475379PubMed Central: PMC6899971DOI: 10.1111/age.12835Google 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.
LinkedInCopy
  • Journal Article

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.

The research project focused on exploring the maternal and paternal genetic diversity of horse breeds in the Baltic Sea region, including Estonian breeds, in comparison to distant Eurasian breeds like Altai and Yakutian. The study uncovered some unique patterns of genetic sharing and high diversity in maternal inheritance, but didn’t find variation in paternal genetic markers among the horse breeds in the Baltic Sea region.

Research Methodology and Findings

  • The study involved the examination of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) D-loop region, a segment often used in studies to measure genetic diversity due to its high mutation rate.
  • A total of 72 unique mtDNA haplotypes, which are groupings of gene variations that are likely to be inherited together, were identified across the nine breeds being studied.
  • Among the local Estonian breeds, 38 unique mtDNA haplotypes were identified. Interestingly, five of these haplotypes were found in all three Estonian breeds.
  • The majority of the haplotypes identified were rare, appearing in less than 60% of the sample.

Insights from the Study

  • The Tori breed, one of the Estonian local breeds, was found to have a higher haplotypic diversity compared to the Estonian Native and Estonian Heavy Draught breeds. This might suggest greater genetic variation and potentially greater adaptability or resilience in the Tori breed.
  • The study also discovered four haplotypes shared by Finnish and Estonian breeds, suggesting an ancient common ancestry for these horses.
  • One particular haplotype, H30, was found to show genetic sharing on a global scale, indicating a genetic link between Baltic Sea and Siberian horses.

Implications of the Findings

  • The species showed high variability in maternal inheritance, as well as mixed patterns of genetic traits of international breeds and native breeds of the Siberian and Baltic regions.
  • Contrary to the maternal side, the study found no variation in the genes inherited from the father among horse breeds in the Baltic Sea region. It suggests that, at least in this respect, these breeds have a homogenous paternal genetic background.

Cite This Article

APA
Sild E, Värv S, Kaart T, Kantanen J, Popov R, Viinalass H. (2019). Maternal and paternal genetic variation in Estonian local horse breeds in the context of geographically adjacent and distant Eurasian breeds. Anim Genet, 50(6), 757-760. https://doi.org/10.1111/age.12835

Publication

Animal genetics
ISSN: 1365-2052
NlmUniqueID: 8605704
Country: England
Language: English
Volume: 50
Issue: 6
Pages: 757-760

Researcher Affiliations

Sild, E
  • Institute of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Kreutzwaldi 1, Tartu, 51014, Estonia.
Värv, S
  • Institute of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Kreutzwaldi 1, Tartu, 51014, Estonia.
Kaart, T
  • Institute of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Kreutzwaldi 1, Tartu, 51014, Estonia.
Kantanen, J
  • Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), Myllytie 1, Alimentum, Jokioinen, FI-31600, Finland.
Popov, R
  • Yakutian Research Institute of Agriculture (FGBNU Yakutskij NIISH), ul. Bestyzhevo-Marlinskogo 23/1, Yakutsk, 677001, The Sakha Republic (Yakutia), Russia.
Viinalass, H
  • Institute of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Kreutzwaldi 1, Tartu, 51014, Estonia.

MeSH Terms

  • Animals
  • DNA, Mitochondrial
  • Estonia
  • Female
  • Haplotypes
  • Horses / classification
  • Horses / genetics
  • Male
  • Pedigree

Grant Funding

  • Estonian Ministry of Education and Research
  • Academy of Finland

References

This article includes 20 references
  1. Bandelt HJ, Forster P, Sykes BC, Richards MB. Mitochondrial portraits of human populations using median networks.. Genetics 1995 Oct;141(2):743-53.
    pmc: PMC1206770pubmed: 8647407doi: 10.1093/genetics/141.2.743google scholar: lookup
  2. Brandariz-Fontes C, Leonard JA, Vega-Pla JL, Backström N, Lindgren G, Lippold S, Rico C. Y-chromosome analysis in Retuertas horses.. PLoS One 2013;8(5):e64985.
    pmc: PMC3669082pubmed: 23741439doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0064985google scholar: lookup
  3. 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.
    pmc: PMC3004868pubmed: 21187961doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0015311google scholar: lookup
  4. Felkel S, Vogl C, Rigler D, Jagannathan V, Leeb T, Fries R, Neuditschko M, Rieder S, Velie B, Lindgren G, Rubin CJ, Schlötterer C, Rattei T, Brem G, Wallner B. Asian horses deepen the MSY phylogeny.. Anim Genet 2018 Feb;49(1):90-93.
    pubmed: 29333704doi: 10.1111/age.12635google scholar: lookup
  5. Fu YX, Li WH. Statistical tests of neutrality of mutations.. Genetics 1993 Mar;133(3):693-709.
    pmc: PMC1205353pubmed: 8454210doi: 10.1093/genetics/133.3.693google scholar: lookup
  6. Jukes TH, Cantor CR. Evolution of protein molecules. In: Mammalian Protein Metabolism (Ed. by Munro H.N.), pp. 21–132. Academic Press, New York, NY.
  7. Kantanen J, Edwards CJ, Bradley DG, Viinalass H, Thessler S, Ivanova Z, Kiselyova T, Cinkulov M, Popov R, Stojanović S, Ammosov I, Vilkki J. Maternal and paternal genealogy of Eurasian taurine cattle (Bos taurus).. Heredity (Edinb) 2009 Nov;103(5):404-15.
    pubmed: 19603063doi: 10.1038/hdy.2009.68google scholar: lookup
  8. Kimura M. The Neutral Theory of Molecular Evolution. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.
  9. Kreutzmann N, Brem G, Wallner B. The domestic horse harbours Y-chromosomal microsatellite polymorphism only on two widely distributed male lineages.. Anim Genet 2014 Jun;45(3):460.
    pubmed: 24684376doi: 10.1111/age.12149google scholar: lookup
  10. Librado P, Rozas J. DnaSP v5: a software for comprehensive analysis of DNA polymorphism data.. Bioinformatics 2009 Jun 1;25(11):1451-2.
    pubmed: 19346325doi: 10.1093/bioinformatics/btp187google scholar: lookup
  11. Lindgren G, Backström N, Swinburne J, Hellborg L, Einarsson A, Sandberg K, Cothran G, Vilà C, Binns M, Ellegren H. Limited number of patrilines in horse domestication.. Nat Genet 2004 Apr;36(4):335-6.
    pubmed: 15034578doi: 10.1038/ng1326google scholar: lookup
  12. Lynch M, Crease TJ. The analysis of population survey data on DNA sequence variation.. Mol Biol Evol 1990 Jul;7(4):377-94.
    pubmed: 1974693doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.molbev.a040607google scholar: lookup
  13. Petersen JL, Mickelson JR, Cothran EG, Andersson LS, Axelsson J, Bailey E, Bannasch D, Binns MM, Borges AS, Brama P, da Câmara Machado A, Distl O, Felicetti M, Fox-Clipsham L, Graves KT, Guérin G, Haase B, Hasegawa T, Hemmann K, Hill EW, Leeb T, Lindgren G, Lohi H, Lopes MS, McGivney BA, Mikko S, Orr N, Penedo MC, Piercy RJ, Raekallio M, Rieder S, Røed KH, Silvestrelli M, Swinburne J, Tozaki T, Vaudin M, M Wade C, McCue ME. Genetic diversity in the modern horse illustrated from genome-wide SNP data.. PLoS One 2013;8(1):e54997.
    pmc: PMC3559798pubmed: 23383025doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0054997google scholar: lookup
  14. Peakall R, Smouse PE. GenAlEx 6.5: genetic analysis in Excel. Population genetic software for teaching and research--an update.. Bioinformatics 2012 Oct 1;28(19):2537-9.
    pmc: PMC3463245pubmed: 22820204doi: 10.1093/bioinformatics/bts460google scholar: lookup
  15. Rannamäe E, Lõugas L, Niemi M, Kantanen J, Maldre L, Kadõrova N, Saarma U. Maternal and paternal genetic diversity of ancient sheep in Estonia from the Late Bronze Age to the post-medieval period and comparison with other regions in Eurasia.. Anim Genet 2016 Apr;47(2):208-18.
    pubmed: 26805771doi: 10.1111/age.12407google scholar: lookup
  16. Sild E, Rooni K, Värv S, Røed K, Popov R, Kantanen J, Viinlass H. Genetic diversity of Estonian horse breeds and their genetic affinity to northern European and some Asian breeds. Livestock Science 220, 57–66.
  17. 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.
    pubmed: 11161199doi: 10.1126/science.291.5503.474google scholar: lookup
  18. Wallner B, Piumi F, Brem G, Müller M, Achmann R. Isolation of Y chromosome-specific microsatellites in the horse and cross-species amplification in the genus Equus.. J Hered 2004 Mar-Apr;95(2):158-64.
    pubmed: 15073232doi: 10.1093/jhered/esh020google scholar: lookup
  19. Wallner B, Palmieri N, Vogl C, Rigler D, Bozlak E, Druml T, Jagannathan V, Leeb T, Fries R, Tetens J, Thaller G, Metzger J, Distl O, Lindgren G, Rubin CJ, Andersson L, Schaefer R, McCue M, Neuditschko M, Rieder S, Schlötterer C, Brem G. Y Chromosome Uncovers the Recent Oriental Origin of Modern Stallions.. Curr Biol 2017 Jul 10;27(13):2029-2035.e5.
    pubmed: 28669755doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2017.05.086google scholar: lookup
  20. Xu X, Arnason U. The complete mitochondrial DNA sequence of the horse, Equus caballus: extensive heteroplasmy of the control region.. Gene 1994 Oct 21;148(2):357-62.
    pubmed: 7958969doi: 10.1016/0378-1119(94)90713-7google scholar: lookup

Citations

This article has been cited 6 times.
  1. 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).
    doi: 10.3390/genes14081602pubmed: 37628653google scholar: lookup
  2. Kusliy MA, Yurlova AA, Neumestova AI, Vorobieva NV, Gutorova NV, Molodtseva AS, Trifonov VA, Popova KO, Polosmak NV, Molodin VI, Vasiliev SK, Semibratov VP, Iderkhangai TO, Kovalev AA, Erdenebaatar D, Graphodatsky AS, Tishkin AA. Genetic History of the Altai Breed Horses: From Ancient Times to Modernity. Genes (Basel) 2023 Jul 26;14(8).
    doi: 10.3390/genes14081523pubmed: 37628575google scholar: lookup
  3. Cardinali I, Giontella A, Tommasi A, Silvestrelli M, Lancioni H. Unlocking Horse Y Chromosome Diversity. Genes (Basel) 2022 Dec 2;13(12).
    doi: 10.3390/genes13122272pubmed: 36553539google scholar: lookup
  4. Kvist L, Honka J, Salazar D, Kirkinen T, Hemmann K. Memories, museum artefacts and excavations in resolving the history of maternal lineages in the Finnhorse. Anim Genet 2022 Dec;53(6):821-828.
    doi: 10.1111/age.13256pubmed: 36043357google scholar: lookup
  5. Agbani A, Aminou O, Machmoum M, Germot A, Badaoui B, Petit D, Piro M. A Systematic Literature Review of Mitochondrial DNA Analysis for Horse Genetic Diversity. Animals (Basel) 2025 Mar 20;15(6).
    doi: 10.3390/ani15060885pubmed: 40150414google scholar: lookup
  6. Atroshchenko M, Dementieva N, Shcherbakov Y, Nikolaeva O, Azovtseva A, Ryabova A, Nikitkina E, Makhmutova O, Datsyshin A, Zakharov V, Zaitsev A. The Genetic Diversity of Horse Native Breeds in Russia. Genes (Basel) 2023 Nov 28;14(12).
    doi: 10.3390/genes14122148pubmed: 38136970google scholar: lookup
Subscribe to our newsletter
Join 99,850 horse owners like you who receive our email updates on horse health and nutrition.