Abstract
The aim of this research was to characterize the genetic diversity of the Sarda (Sa, n = 131), Sardo Bruna (SB, n = 44) and Sardo Modicana (SM, n = 26) cattle breeds, reared in the island of Sardinia (Italy). A portion of the mitochondrial DNA hypervariable region was sequenced, in order to identify a potential signature of African introgression. The FST coefficients among populations ranged between 0.056 for Sa vs SB and 0.167 for SB vs SM. AMOVA analysis indicated there was a significant differentiation of the three breeds, although most of diversity was gathered at the within-breed level. The Median Joining Network of the Sardinian sequences showed a potential founder effect signature. A MJ network including Sardinian cattle plus African, Italian, Iberian and Asian sequences, revealed the presence of haplogroup T3, already detected in Sa cattle, and the presence of Hg T1 and Hg T1′2′3, in Sa and SB. The presence of a private haplotype belonging to haplogroup T1, which is characteristic of African taurine breeds, may be due to the introgression of Sardinian breeds with African cattle, either directly (most probable source: North African cattle) or indirectly (through a Mediterranean intermediary already introgressed with African blood).
Highlights
The aim of this research was to characterize the genetic diversity of the Sarda (Sa, n = 131), Sardo Bruna (SB, n = 44) and Sardo Modicana (SM, n = 26) cattle breeds, reared in the island of Sardinia (Italy)
We aimed to characterize the genetic diversity of the Sarda (Sa), Sardo Bruna (SB) and Sardo Modicana (SM) breeds through the partial sequencing of the mitochondrial DNA hypervariable region in order to identify a potential signature of African introgression
In SM cattle we found only 5 haplotypes out of 26 sequences, but it should be kept in mind that all individuals came from the same sampling site (Milis)
Summary
The aim of this research was to characterize the genetic diversity of the Sarda (Sa, n = 131), Sardo Bruna (SB, n = 44) and Sardo Modicana (SM, n = 26) cattle breeds, reared in the island of Sardinia (Italy). Livestock breeding systems have experienced substantial changes during the twentieth century, mainly driven by mechanization, industrialization, and intensive selection This process, which resulted in the adoption and diffusion throughout the world of highly selected cosmopolitan b reeds[1], led to an impressive improvement of productions and to a genetic homogenization of farmed animals caused by the progressive replacement of rustic local breeds by their cosmopolitan c ounterparts[2]. We aimed to characterize the genetic diversity of the Sarda (Sa), Sardo Bruna (SB) and Sardo Modicana (SM) breeds through the partial sequencing of the mitochondrial DNA hypervariable region in order to identify a potential signature of African introgression
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