Abstract
Dromedary camels in the Arabian Peninsula distribute along different geographical and ecological locations, e.g. desert, mountains and coasts. Here, we are aiming to explore the whole genome sequence data of ten dromedary populations from the Arabian Peninsula to assess their genetic structure, admixture levels, diversity and similarity indices. Upon including reference dromedary and Bactrian camel populations from Iran and Kazakhstan, we characterise inter-species and geographic genetic distinction between the dromedary and the Bactrian camels. Individual-based alpha genetic diversity profiles are found to be generally higher in Bactrian camels than dromedary populations, with the exception of five autosomes (NC_044525.1, NC_044534.1, NC_044540.1, NC_044542.1, NC_044544.1) at diversity orders (q ≥ 2). The Arabian Peninsula camels are generally homogenous, with a small degree of genetic distinction correlating with three geographic groups: North, Central and West; Southwest; and Southeast of the Arabian Peninsula. No significant variation in diversity or similarity indices are observed among the different Arabian Peninsula dromedary populations. This study contributes to our understanding of the genetic diversity of Arabian Peninsula dromedary camels. It will help conserve the genetic stock of this species and support the design of breeding programmes for genetic improvement of favorable traits.
Highlights
Dromedary camels in the Arabian Peninsula distribute along different geographical and ecological locations, e.g. desert, mountains and coasts
In the Arabian Peninsula, dromedary camels are classified according to various criteria, for example coat color, ecological location and their productivity, there is no established breeding system informed by genetic analysis
We investigate if the different Arabian Peninsula dromedary camel populations can be genetically discriminated based on their geographical distribution using whole genome sequence data
Summary
Dromedary camels in the Arabian Peninsula distribute along different geographical and ecological locations, e.g. desert, mountains and coasts. The domestic one-humped Camelus dromedarius (dromedary camel) and two-humped Camelus bactrianus (Bactrian camel), in addition to the wild two-humped camelus ferus, form the old world Camelini tribe of the Camelidae family The ancestors of this tribe, which diverged from the new world Lamini tribe about 16.3 million years ago (Mya), reached Eurasia via the Bering land bridge approximately 6.5–7.5 Mya. After the divergence of the one-humped camels from the two-humped animals, around 4.4 Mya, the Bactrian camels were domesticated from their wild ancestors about 5000–6000 years ago, most probably in eastern Asia. Dromedary camels are predominantly found in the desert and semi-arid regions of Africa, Arabian Peninsula and southwest Asia, while Bactrian camels are mainly distributed throughout eastern and central A sia[2]. Camels bred for competitive racing are known as racing camels, and are mainly from either Oman in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula, or the north of the Arabian Peninsula where a recognized population known as al-Hurra is popular[4,5]
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