Colombian Creole horse breeds: same origin but different diversity

Abstract

In order to understand the genetic ancestry and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) diversity of current Colombian horse breeds we sequenced a 364-bp fragment of the mitocondrial DNA D-loop in 116 animals belonging to five Spanish horse breeds and the Colombian Paso Fino and Colombian Creole cattle horse breeds. Among Colombian horse breeds, haplogroup D had the highest frequency (53%), followed by haplogroups A (19%), C (8%) and F (6%). The higher frequency of haplogroup D in Colombian horse breeds supports the theory of an ancestral Iberian origin for these breeds. These results also indicate that different selective pressures among the Colombian breeds could explain the relatively higher genetic diversity found in the Colombian Creole cattle horse when compared with the Colombian Paso Fino.

D-loop haplotype diversity in Brazilian horse breeds

“…The specialized breed ETB showed the highest nucleotide diversity index among the breeds analyzed (0.02394). The observed haplotype and nucleotide diversity average in this study was lower than that recorded in Italian ( Bigi et al , 2014 ), Indian ( Devi and Ghosh, 2013 ), Colombian Creole ( Jimenez et al , 2012 ) and Chinese horses ( Zhang et al , 2012 ). The ELV showed the lowest haplotype and nucleotide diversity index, and the individuals of this studied population grouped only in two haplogroups, which may be related to its geographic isolation.…”

“…Horses have played an important role in shaping human civilization and their domestication occurred from several wild populations 4.000 to 6.000 years ago ( Vaughan et al , 2010 ; Outram et al , 2009 ). This species was introduced in South America by European conquerors during the 16th century, and the development of current American horse breeds has been based on the ones from the Iberian Peninsula ( Jimenez et al , 2012 ; Cortés et al , 2017 ). As with all domesticated animals introduced during this period, horses were widely dispersed in this new environment, becoming adapted to different conditions ( Mirol et al , 2002 ).…”

“…D-loop polymorphisms have been used to understand the origin and genetic diversity of horses from Italy ( Bigi et al , 2014 ), Iran ( Moridi et al , 2013 ), India ( Devi and Ghosh, 2013 ), China ( Zhang et al , 2012 ), Colombia ( Jimenez et al , 2012 ), Croatia ( Ivankovic et al , 2009 ) and Lithuania ( Cothran et al , 2005 ), as well as Lusitano ( Hill et al , 2002 ; Lopes et al , 2005 ) and Arabian horses ( Khanshour and Cothran, 2013 ). These studies have also been used to infer on horse phylogeography and evolution ( Jansen et al , 2002 ; Mirol et al , 2002 ; McGahern et al , 2006 ; Cieslak et al , 2010 ; Achilli et al , 2012 ; Jimenez et al , 2012 ; Devi and Ghosh, 2013 ). According to Mirol et al (2002) , knowledge of South American breeds is important for conservation genetics of domestic horses, as New World varieties are, probably, closer to historical horses than those found currently on the Iberian Peninsula, which have been crossed with other breeds over the last 500 years.…”

Diversity and effective population size of four horse breeds from microsatellite DNA markers in South-Central Mexico

“…Since its reintroduction to the Americas during the time of Spanish colonization (Luís et al, 2006;Jimenez et al, 2012), the horse has played a significant role in the history and culture of Mexico (LeCompte, 1985;Griffith and Fernán-dez, 1988;Nájera-Ramírez, 1994;Palomar, 2004;Pineda and Díaz, 2012). Mexico has one of the largest horse populations in the world (da Mota and Regitano, 2012) with a substantial number of mixed-breed horses used for agricultural, farming, transportation, tourism and patrolling (i.e.…”

“…Another rele-vant horse breed in Mexico is the Creole (Criollo) horse, which also plays a significant role in farming and Mexican equestrian traditions (Domínguez-Sánchez et al, 2015). The Creole breed is derived from feral horse populations introduced during the first Spanish expeditions to the Americas (Domínguez-Sánchez et al, 2015), similar to other Creole breeds in South America (Kelly et al, 2002;Mirol et al, 2002;Jimenez et al, 2012).…”