Short Communication: Mitochondrial DNA D-loop sequence diversity and origin of Chinese pony breeds (Equus caballus)

Abstract

Yang, S.-l., Li, A.-P., Xu, L.-x. and Yang, H. 2013. Short Communication: Mitochondrial DNA D-loop sequence diversity and origin of Chinese pony breeds ( Equus caballus ). Can. J. Anim. Sci. 93: 313-319. Previous studies based on mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) data have shown that Chinese horses have high genetic diversity. However, little is known about the genetic diversity of mtDNA D-loop sequences and maternal origin of five Chinese pony breeds. In the present study, genetic diversity of 343-bp D-loop sequences for136 individuals representing five Chinese pony breeds was analyzed. To address the question of the single and multiple maternal origin of Chinese pony populations, 13 partial mtDNA D-loop reference sequences from GenBank representing eight ancient and modern horse breeds (Connemara, Garrano, Sorraia, Pottok, Losino, Cheju, Tuva and a Swedish horse) were added to conduct the phylogenetic analyses. A total of 59 haplotypes and 50 polymorphic loci were detected, the haplotype diversity (h) ranged fr...