Abstract
The analysis of Y-chromosome variation has provided valuable clues about the paternal history of domestic animal populations. The main goal of the current work was to characterize Y-chromosome diversity in 31 goat populations from Central Eastern (Switzerland and Romania) and Southern Europe (Spain and Italy) as well as in reference populations from Africa and the Near East. Towards this end, we have genotyped seven single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), mapping to the SRY, ZFY, AMELY and DDX3Y Y-linked loci, in 275 bucks from 31 populations. We have observed a low level of variability in the goat Y-chromosome, with just five haplotypes segregating in the whole set of populations. We have also found that Swiss bucks carry exclusively Y1 haplotypes (Y1A: 24%, Y1B1: 15%, Y1B2: 43% and Y1C: 18%), while in Italian and Spanish bucks Y2A is the most abundant haplotype (77%). Interestingly, in Carpathian goats from Romania the Y2A haplotype is also frequent (42%). The high Y-chromosome differentiation between Swiss and Italian/Spanish breeds might be due to the post-domestication spread of two different Near Eastern genetic stocks through the Danubian and Mediterranean corridors. Historical gene flow between Southern European and Northern African goats might have also contributed to generate such pattern of genetic differentiation.
Highlights
Because of its male-limited transmission and lack of recombination[1], Y-chromosome variation provides a simple and highly informative record of the paternal history of domestic species[2,3,4]
Çinar-Kul et al.[8] investigated Y-chromosome diversity in several Turkish goat breeds by partially sequencing the AMELY, ZFY and sex determining region Y (SRY) genes and found that the most frequent haplotype was Y2A followed by Y1A, whilst a new Y2C minority haplotype was identified
Genotyping of four single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) mapping to the sex determining region Y (SRY) gene in 46 Moroccan and 44 Portuguese bucks evidenced that haplotype frequencies are remarkably similar in both populations (Y2 is more frequent than Y1A and Y1B), suggesting the existence of gene flow between goats from the Iberian Peninsula and the Maghreb[12]
Summary
Because of its male-limited transmission and lack of recombination[1], Y-chromosome variation provides a simple and highly informative record of the paternal history of domestic species[2,3,4]. Y-chromosome variation was provided by Pidancier et al (2006)[6], who sequenced fragments of the amelogenin, Y-Linked (AMELY) and zinc finger protein, Y-Linked (ZFY) genes in wild and domestic goats. By doing so, they defined two common haplotypes C1 and C2 and a third rarer haplotype named C3. Çinar-Kul et al.[8] investigated Y-chromosome diversity in several Turkish goat breeds by partially sequencing the AMELY, ZFY and SRY genes and found that the most frequent haplotype was Y2A followed by Y1A, whilst a new Y2C minority haplotype was identified.
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