Broad maternal geographic origin of domestic sheep in Anatolia and the Zagros

Her C., Rezaei H., Hughes S., Naderi S., Duffraisse M., Mashkour M., ...More

ANIMAL GENETICS, vol.53, no.3, pp.452-459, 2022 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 53 Issue: 3
  • Publication Date: 2022
  • Doi Number: 10.1111/age.13191
  • Journal Name: ANIMAL GENETICS
  • Journal Indexes: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, Academic Search Premier, Agricultural & Environmental Science Database, Aquatic Science & Fisheries Abstracts (ASFA), BIOSIS, CAB Abstracts, EMBASE, Food Science & Technology Abstracts, MEDLINE, Veterinary Science Database
  • Page Numbers: pp.452-459
  • Keywords: ancient DNA, animal domestication, area of early domestication, maternal genetic origins, mitochondrial DNA, phylogeny, sheep ancestor, wild sheep, MITOCHONDRIAL-DNA DIVERSITY, GENETIC DIVERSITY, PIG DOMESTICATION, OVIS-ARIES, WILD, EVOLUTION, AGRICULTURE, LINEAGES, PATTERNS, SEQUENCE
  • Middle East Technical University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

We investigated the controversial origin of domestic sheep (Ovis aries) using large samples of contemporary and ancient domestic individuals and their closest wild relatives: the Asiatic mouflon (Ovis gmelini), the urial (Ovis vignei) and the argali (Ovis ammon). A phylogeny based on mitochondrial DNA, including 213 new cytochrome-b sequences of wild Ovism confirmed that O. gmelini is the maternal ancestor of sheep and precluded mtDNA contributions from O. vignei (and O. gmelini x O. vignei hybrids) to domestic lineages. We also produced 54 new control region sequences showing shared haplogroups (A, B, C and E) between domestic sheep and wild O. gmelini which localized the domestication center in eastern Anatolia and central Zagros, excluding regions further east where exclusively wild haplogroups were found. This overlaps with the geographic distribution of O. gmelini gmelini, further suggesting that the maternal origin of domestic sheep derives from this subspecies. Additionally, we produced 57 new CR sequences of Neolithic sheep remains from a large area covering Anatolia to Europe, showing the early presence of at least three mitochondrial haplogroups (A, B and D) in Western colonization routes. This confirmed that sheep domestication was a large-scale process that captured diverse maternal lineages (haplogroups).