Mitochondrial Profiles of the East Bulgarian and the Pleven Horse Breeds

Abstract

It is well known that horse breeding in Bulgaria is a cultural heritage in Bulgaria, dating from prehistoric and historic times. Until now, molecular data on Bulgarian horses from the plain regions of the country were not available. Therefore, for the first time, we have collected genetic information about some modern horse breeds from the plain regions in Bulgaria. A total of 50 horses originating from different families from two different breeds were investigated: the first one was the Pleven horse (n = 11, breeding in the Danubian Plain), and the second one was the East Bulgarian horse breed (n = 39, Shumen district). These breeds were genotyped according to the mitochondrial D-loop region. The results showed that the Pleven horse particularly carries the European haplogroup L (45.45%), followed by the Middle East haplogroup C (27.27%). In contrast to the Pleven horse, the East Bulgarian horse breed revealed almost equal frequencies of the European specific haplogroup L (33.33%) and the Central Asiatic haplogroup Q (35.90%). Analyses of these two horse breeds revealed a specific genetic profile, but it is obvious that the East Bulgarian horse showed an unusual, mixed profile—a massive admixture with the Asiatic-type haplogroup Q and a high haplogroup diversity. In conclusion, the differences in genetic structure of the two plain horse breeds may be explained with the various horse breeds involved in their formation.