The Evolutionary Origin and Genetic Makeup of Domestic Horses

Librado, Pablo; Fages, Antoine; Gaunitz, Charleen; Leonardi, Michela; Wagner, S.; Khan, Naveed; Hanghøj, Kristian; Alquraishi, Saleh A.; Alfarhan, Ahmed H.; Al‐Rasheid, Khaled A. S.; Sarkissian, Clio Der; Schubert, Mikkel; Orlando, Ludovic

doi:10.1534/genetics.116.194860

Cited by 67 publications

(106 citation statements)

References 128 publications

(174 reference statements)

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“…We merged our newly generated ancient samples with ancient populations from the publicly available datasets 13, 19, 20, 24, 27, 28, 33, 35, 37 (Supplementary Data 2), as well as genotyping data from worldwide modern populations using Human Origins arrays published in the same publications. We also included newly genotyped populations from the Caucasus and Asia, described in detail in Jeong et al 71 .…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It is well known for its rich burial mounds, especially at the eponymous Maykop site in today‘s Adygea, which reflect the rise of a new system of social organization 12 . The 4 th millennium BCE witnesses a concomitant rise in commodities and technologies such as the wheel and wagon including associated technology, copper alloys, new weaponry, and new breeds of domestic sheep 13, 14 .…”

Section: Figmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The adjacent Pontic-Caspian and Eurasian steppe also played an important role in this linked economic system, being the most likely region for the domestication of the horse that revolutionised transport 13 . In addition, many steppe kurgans (large burial mounds that are first observed in the context of the Maykop culture) have yielded the remains of wheels and ox-drawn carts, highlighting a mobile economy focused on cattle and sheep/goat herding 15 .…”

Section: Figmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The genetic prehistory of the Greater Caucasus

Wang

Reinhold

Kalmykov³

et al. 2018

Preprint

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Archaeogenetic studies have described the formation of Eurasian ‘steppe ancestry’ as a mixture of Eastern and Caucasus hunter-gatherers. However, it remains unclear when and where this ancestry arose and whether it was related to a horizon of cultural innovations in the 4th millennium BCE that subsequently facilitated the advance of pastoral societies likely linked to the dispersal of Indo-European languages. To address this, we generated genome-wide SNP data from 45 prehistoric individuals along a 3000-year temporal transect in the North Caucasus. We observe a genetic separation between the groups of the Caucasus and those of the adjacent steppe. The Caucasus groups are genetically similar to contemporaneous populations south of it, suggesting that – unlike today – the Caucasus acted as a bridge rather than an insurmountable barrier to human movement. The steppe groups from Yamnaya and subsequent pastoralist cultures show evidence for previously undetected farmer-related ancestry from different contact zones, while Steppe Maykop individuals harbour additional Upper Palaeolithic Siberian and Native American related ancestry.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Figmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Figmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The genetic prehistory of the Greater Caucasus

Wang

Reinhold

Kalmykov³

et al. 2018

Preprint

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“…Deleterious genetic variants have accumulated in the genomes of modern horses as a result of population bottlenecks during domestication and breed foundation events [4,5]. In this process, also known as the "cost of domestication", deleterious mutations increase in frequency by "hitchhiking" on selective sweep regions [6].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effects of inbreeding on covering success, gestation length and foal sex ratio in Australian thoroughbred horses

et al. 2020

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Background: Horses produce only one foal from an eleven-month gestation period, making the maintenance of high reproductive rates essential. Genetic bottlenecks and inbreeding can increase the frequency of deleterious variants, resulting in reduced reproductive levels in a population. In this study we examined the influence of inbreeding levels on foaling rate, gestation length and secondary sex ratio in Australian Thoroughbred mares. We also investigated the genetic change in these traits throughout the history of the breed. Phenotypic data were obtained from 27,262 breeding records of Thoroughbred mares provided by three Australian stud farms. Inbreeding was estimated using the pedigree of each individual dating back to the foundation of the breed in the eighteenth century. Results: While both gestation length and foaling rate were heritable, no measurable effect of inbreeding on either trait was found. However, we did find that the genetic value for both traits had decreased within recent generations. A number of environmental factors also had significant effects on foaling rate and gestation length. Secondary sex ratio had only an extremely small paternal heritable effect and was not susceptible to environmental influences. Conclusions: In contrast to racing performance, inbreeding had no measurable effect on foaling rate or gestation length in Australian Thoroughbred horses. This could be because the level of inbreeding in the population examined is not high enough to show a discernible effect on reproductive traits. Populations that experience higher levels of inbreeding due to use of artificial reproductive technologies or extremely small population sizes may show a more pronounced reduction in natural foaling rate or gestation length. It is also possible that the intensive management techniques used in the Thoroughbred population masks any negative effects of inbreeding. The decrease in the genetic value of foaling rate is likely to be because horses with unfavourable genetic potential have not yet been selected out of the population. The change in genetic value of gestation length may be due to selective breeding favouring horses with shorter pregnancies. We also found that prioritising the mating of older mares, and avoiding out of season mating could lead to an increased breeding success.

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“…[1] for a review). Coat coloration is one of such variations, and we currently observe various colors including chestnut, gray, and black.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating the potential roles of the <i>Gray</i> and <i>Extension</i> loci in the coat coloration of Thoroughbred racing horses

Sakamoto

Fawcett

Innan

2017

JES

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Horses have substantial variation in coat color, and the genetic loci responsible for the coat color variations have been well investigated. It has been believed that some color variations should follow a single-locus Mendelian law. Examples include the Gray locus that causes the gray phenotype and the Extension locus that specifies the chestnut phenotype. We reevaluated the roles of the Gray and Extension loci by using a large number of mating records of Thoroughbred racing horses. We showed that the data indeed fits the Mendelian law extremely well for the two loci. Furthermore, we demonstrated that the Extension and Agouti loci might have an additional role in determining the degree of melanin that should distinguish bay, dark bay, and brown.

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The Evolutionary Origin and Genetic Makeup of Domestic Horses

Cited by 67 publications

References 128 publications

The genetic prehistory of the Greater Caucasus

The genetic prehistory of the Greater Caucasus

The effects of inbreeding on covering success, gestation length and foal sex ratio in Australian thoroughbred horses

Evaluating the potential roles of the <i>Gray</i> and <i>Extension</i> loci in the coat coloration of Thoroughbred racing horses

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