Mitochondrial diversity and the origin of Iberian sheep

Abstract

-Mitochondrial DNA diversity was analysed in 19 Iberian and six foreign sheep breeds. Three mtDNA lineages (B, A and C) were found in the Iberian sheep, with type B clearly predominating over the others. The results were analysed for each of the morphologically determined breed groups in Iberian sheep: Merino, Entrefino, Churro and Iberian trunks. MtDNA lineage C was found only in the Iberian trunk composed of Montesina and Ojalada. These two populations had high mtDNA variability, and in the Iberian sheep only Merino Branco had more variation. The other three Merino types studied showed moderate variability, including the most authentic Merino, the Spanish Merino. These three Merinos clustered closely in a multidimensional scaling representation of distances, while the fourth breed (Merino Branco) showed a clear separation. As for the other two trunks, breeds from the Churro group showed greater maternal uniformity while results for populations included in the so-called Entrefino trunk seemed to have a more heterogeneous maternal origin. The results obtained are discussed with available data from nuclear markers and with morphological classifications, and all this information is analysed in relation to the origin of the different Iberian sheep breeds. mitochondrial DNA / local sheep / sheep origin

Mini review: breeding Awassi and Assaf sheep for diverse management conditions

“…Haplogroup A is predominantly found in Asian breeds, haplogroup B in European breeds and haplogroup C in Chinese and Turkish breeds. Four of the haplogroups, A, B, C, and E, were found in the Awassi (Meadows et al 2007;Pedrosa et al 2007), suggesting that at least four different maternal lineages contributed to its formation. As the Awassi served as a maternal parent breed for the Assaf (Gootwine and Goot 1996), it is not surprising that the Awassi's diversity in mitochondrial haplogroups was also observed in the Assaf .…”

“…As opposed to nuclear DNA, mitochondrial DNA is maternally inherited. To date, five distinct mitochondrial haplogroups have been revealed in sheep: A, B, C, D, and E (Meadows et al 2007;Pedrosa et al 2007). Haplogroup A is predominantly found in Asian breeds, haplogroup B in European breeds and haplogroup C in Chinese and Turkish breeds.…”

“…As the Awassi served as a maternal parent breed for the Assaf (Gootwine and Goot 1996), it is not surprising that the Awassi's diversity in mitochondrial haplogroups was also observed in the Assaf . However, contrary to the Israeli Assaf, the Spanish Assaf.E is homogenous for the B haplogroup (Pedrosa et al 2007), reflecting the way in which this breed was formed: by crossing Assaf rams obtained from Israel with local Iberian breeds, in which B is the most frequent haplogroup.…”

Mitochondrial DNA variation in indigenous sheep (Ovis aries) breeds of Nepal

“…There was no specific haplogroup distribution pattern in breeds or different ecological regions. Haplogroup C sequences, which were first identified in Chinese sheep (Guo et al, 2005;Luo et al, 2005) and also detected late at low frequency in Middle Eastern and European sheep breeds (Pedrosa et al, 2005(Pedrosa et al, , 2007Pereira et al, 2006;Tapio et al, 2006;Oner et al, 2013), were found in the three breeds distributed in the hills. This result suggested a probable gene flow from northeast to southwest but not reach the low lands of Nepal.…”

“…Diversity of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) has been widely used to assess the origin, phylogeny and population structure of sheep breeds all over the world (Hiendleder et al, 1998a(Hiendleder et al, , 1998b(Hiendleder et al, , 2002Meadows et al, 2005Meadows et al, , 2007Pedrosa et al, 2005Pedrosa et al, , 2007Pereira et al, 2006;Tapio et al, 2006;Oner et al, 2013), specifically in China (Guo et al, 2005;Luo et al, 2005;Chen et al, 2006;Wang et al, 2007;Sulaiman et al, 2011;Zhao et al, 2011) and India (Pardeshi et al, 2007;Arora et al, 2013;Singh et al, 2013). In contrast, information on phylogeography of Nepalese sheep mtDNA is scarce.…”