African-Derived Mitochondria in South American Native Cattle Breeds (Bos taurus): Evidence of a New Taurine Mitochondrial Lineage

Abstract

This article reports the nucleotide diversity within the control region of 42 mitochondrial chromosomes belonging to five South American native cattle breeds (Bos taurus). Analysis of these data in conjunction with B. taurus and B. indicus sequences from Africa, Europe, the Near East, India, and Japan allowed the recognition of eight new mitochondrial haplotypes and their relative positions in a phylogenetic network. The structure of genetic variation among different hypothetical groupings was tested through the molecular variance decomposition, which was best explained by haplotype group components. Haplotypes surveyed were classified as European-related and African-related. Unexpectedly, two haplotypes within the African cluster were more divergent from the African consensus than the latter from the European consensus. A neighbor-joining tree shows the position of two haplotypes compared to European/African mitochondrial lineage splitting. This different and putatively ancestral mitochondrial lineage (AA) is supported by the calibration of sequence divergence based on the Bos-Bison separation. The European/African mitochondria divergence might be subsequent (67,100 years before present) to that between AA and Africans (84,700 years before present), also preceding domestication times. These genetic data could reflect the haplotype distribution of Iberian cattle five centuries ago.

Brazilian Nelore cattle: a melting pot unfolded by molecular genetics

“…Although it is generally assumed that gene flow between and within zebu and taurine cattle and crosses thereof have been intense in Brazil, there is a lack of information on gene flow quantification and breed relationships among Brazilian cattle. Miretti et al (2002) did not find any zebu mtDNA haplotype in taurine cattle breeds descendant from cattle that were introduced in South America some 500 years ago by Portuguese and Spanish colonizers. Yet, Meirelles et al (1999) found taurine mtDNA in 59 of 102 samples of Gir and Nelore breeds, which was consistent with the known matrilinear contribution of the taurine cattle originally introduced in Brazil, for the formation of the modern Brazilian zebu.…”

Genetic diversity of the Brazilian Creole cattle Pé-duro assessed by microsatellites and mitochondrial DNA

“…The mutational dynamics of mtDNA sequences enable the genetic relationships among haplotypes to be inferred. Argentinean Creole (n=12) and Brazilian native cattle breeds Pé-duro (n= 11), Caracu (n=8), Mocho Nacional (n=6) and Pantaneiro (n=10) were analyzed according to Miretti et al (2002). Details regarding PCR amplification, sequencing reactions and primers sequence were previously reported by Miretti et al (2004).…”

Origin of Cuban Creole cattle inferred by patri- and matrilineages

“…MtDNA control region polymorphisms have been reported in American Creole cattle breeds from several North, South, Central and Caribbean countries (Magee et al, 2002;Miretti et al, 2002Miretti et al, , 2004Carvajal-Carmona et al, 2003;Mirol et al, 2003;Lirón et al, 2006a;Ginja et al, 2010). These studies reported the existence of European T3, African T1, and Middle Eastern T2 haplotypes.…”

“…These studies reported the existence of European T3, African T1, and Middle Eastern T2 haplotypes. African haplotypes in America, were also identified as belonging to two different sub-haplogroups, T1* and T1a (AA1 in Miretti et al, 2002 nomenclature;Miretti et al, 2002Miretti et al, , 2004Lirón et al, 2006a). In addition, the patrilinages present in Creole cattle were analyzed through Y chromosome microsatellites and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) (Giovambattista et al, 2000;Ginja et al, 2010).…”