The origin of Chinese domestic horses revealed with novel mtDNA variants.
Abstract: The origin of domestic horses in China was a controversial issue and several hypotheses including autochthonous domestication, introduction from other areas, and multiple-origins from both introduction and local wild horse introgression have been proposed, but none of them have been fully supported by DNA data. In the present study, mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequences of 714 Chinese indigenous horses were analyzed. The results showed that Chinese domestic horses harbor some novel mtDNA haplogroups and suggested that local domestication events may have occurred, but they are not the dominant haplogroups and the geographical distributions of the novel mtDNA haplogroups were rather restricted. Conclusively, our results support the hypothesis that the domestic horses in China originated from both the introduced horses from outside of China and the local wild horses' introgression into the domestic populations. Results of genetic diversity analysis suggested a possibility that the introduced horses entered China through northern regions from the Eurasian steppe.
© 2016 Japanese Society of Animal Science.
Publication Date: 2016-04-13 PubMed ID: 27071843DOI: 10.1111/asj.12583Google Scholar: Lookup
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- Journal Article
Summary
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The research article investigates the origin of domestic horses in China using mitochondrial DNA from 714 local horses. The study suggests a mixed origin from both local domestication and the introgression of foreign horses.
Research Background
- The paper discusses the contentious topic of the origins of domestic horses in China.
- Several theories have been suggested, including local domestication, introduction from external areas, and a combination of both, but none had been sufficiently supported by DNA data.
The Study
- The researchers examined the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequences from 714 indigenous Chinese horses.
- They found some unique mtDNA haplogroups (genetic groups), suggesting that domestication may have occurred locally.
- However, these groups were not the dominant ones, and their geographical distribution was limited.
Conclusions
- The study’s results support the theory of a mixed origin for China’s domestic horses – involving both the introduction of horses from outside of China and the intermixing of local wild horses into domestic populations.
- Genetic diversity analysis also hinted at the possibility that the foreign horses may have entered China through the northern regions from the Eurasian steppe.
Cite This Article
APA
Yang Y, Zhu Q, Liu S, Zhao C, Wu C.
(2016).
The origin of Chinese domestic horses revealed with novel mtDNA variants.
Anim Sci J, 88(1), 19-26.
https://doi.org/10.1111/asj.12583 Publication
Researcher Affiliations
- College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China.
- Institute of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science, Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Science, Shanghai, China.
- Department of Genomic Medicine, J. Craig Venter Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA.
- College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China.
- College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China.
- Equine Center, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China.
- Key laboratory of Animal Breeding and Genetics of Ministry of Agriculture, P.R. China.
- College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China.
- Equine Center, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China.
- Key laboratory of Animal Breeding and Genetics of Ministry of Agriculture, P.R. China.
MeSH Terms
- Animals
- Animals, Domestic / genetics
- Animals, Wild / genetics
- China
- DNA, Mitochondrial / genetics
- Genetic Variation / genetics
- Haplotypes / genetics
- Horses / genetics
- Phylogeny
- Sequence Analysis, DNA
Citations
This article has been cited 13 times.- Li Y, Liu Y, Wang M, Lin X, Li Y, Yang T, Feng M, Ling Y, Zhao C. Whole-Genome Sequence Analysis Reveals the Origin of the Chakouyi Horse. Genes (Basel) 2022 Dec 19;13(12).
- Kusliy MA, Vorobieva NV, Tishkin AA, Makunin AI, Druzhkova AS, Trifonov VA, Iderkhangai TO, Graphodatsky AS. Traces of Late Bronze and Early Iron Age Mongolian Horse Mitochondrial Lineages in Modern Populations. Genes (Basel) 2021 Mar 12;12(3).
- 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).
- Ning T, Ling Y, Hu S, Ardalan A, Li J, Mitra B, Chaudhuri TK, Guan W, Zhao Q, Ma Y, Savolainen P, Zhang Y. Local origin or external input: modern horse origin in East Asia. BMC Evol Biol 2019 Nov 27;19(1):217.
- Ma H, Wang S, Zeng G, Guo J, Guo M, Dong X, Hua G, Liu Y, Wang M, Ling Y, Ding X, Zhao C, Wu C. The Origin of a Coastal Indigenous Horse Breed in China Revealed by Genome-Wide SNP Data. Genes (Basel) 2019 Mar 21;10(3).
- Yang L, Kong X, Yang S, Dong X, Yang J, Gou X, Zhang H. Haplotype diversity in mitochondrial DNA reveals the multiple origins of Tibetan horse. PLoS One 2018;13(7):e0201564.
- Zhang C, Ni P, Ahmad HI, Gemingguli M, Baizilaitibei A, Gulibaheti D, Fang Y, Wang H, Asif AR, Xiao C, Chen J, Ma Y, Liu X, Du X, Zhao S. Detecting the Population Structure and Scanning for Signatures of Selection in Horses (Equus caballus) From Whole-Genome Sequencing Data. Evol Bioinform Online 2018;14:1176934318775106.
- Ma H, Wu Y, Xiang H, Yang Y, Wang M, Zhao C, Wu C. Some maternal lineages of domestic horses may have origins in East Asia revealed with further evidence of mitochondrial genomes and HVR-1 sequences. PeerJ 2018;6:e4896.
- Khaudov AD, Duduev AS, Kokov ZA, Amshokov KK, Zhekamukhov MK, Zaitsev AM, Reissmann M. Genetic analysis of maternal and paternal lineages in Kabardian horses by uniparental molecular markers. Open Vet J 2018;8(1):40-46.
- Elsner J, Hofreiter M, Schibler J, Schlumbaum A. Ancient mtDNA diversity reveals specific population development of wild horses in Switzerland after the Last Glacial Maximum. PLoS One 2017;12(5):e0177458.
- 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).
- Lan Y, Li Y, Wang Y. Microbiome analysis reveals dynamic changes of gut microbiota in Guizhou horse and Dutch Warmblood horses. Front Microbiol 2025;16:1562482.
- Han J, Shao H, Sun M, Gao F, Hu Q, Yang G, Jafari H, Li N, Dang R. Genomic insights into the genetic diversity and genetic basis of body height in endangered Chinese Ningqiang ponies. BMC Genomics 2025 Mar 24;26(1):292.
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