The variability of mtDNA was analysed in local sheep breeds reared throughout Turkey, for which a fragment of the D-loop region and the complete cytochrome b were sequenced. Phylogenetic analyses performed independently for the D-loop and the Cyt b gene revealed three clearly separated clusters indicating three major maternal lineages, two of which had been previously described as types B and A. The new type, C, was present in all the breeds analysed and showed considerable mtDNA variability. Divergence time was obtained on the basis of Cyt b gene and was estimated to be around 160,000-170,000 years ago for lineages B and A, whereas the divergence of lineage C proved to have occurred earlier (between 450,000 and 750,000 years ago). These times greatly predate domestication and suggest that the origin of modern sheep breeds was more complex than previously thought and that at least three independent sheep domestication events occurred. Our results, together with archaeological information and the current wild sheep populations in the Near East region support the high importance of this area in the sheep domestication process. Finally, the evidence of a third maternal lineage has important implications regarding the history of modern sheep.

We have resimulated the six galaxy-sized haloes of the Aquarius Project including metal-dependent cooling, star formation and supernova feedback. This allows us to study not only how dark matter haloes respond to galaxy formation, but also how this response is affected by details of halo assembly history. In agreement with previous work, we find baryon condensation to lead to increased dark matter concentration. Dark matter density profiles differ substantially in shape from halo to halo when baryons are included, but in all cases the velocity dispersion decreases monotonically with radius. Some haloes show an approximately constant dark matter velocity anisotropy with $ \beta \approx 0.1-02$, while others retain the anisotropy structure of their baryon-free versions. Most of our haloes become approximately oblate in their inner regions, although a few retain the shape of their dissipationless counterparts. Pseudo-phase-space densities are described by a power law in radius of altered slope when baryons are included. The shape and concentration of the dark matter density profiles are not well reproduced by published adiabatic contraction models. The significant spread we find in the density and kinematic structure of our haloes appears related to differences in their formation histories. Such differences already affect the final structure in baryon-free simulations, but they are reinforced by the inclusion of baryons, and new features are produced. The details of galaxy formation need to be better understood before the inner dark matter structure of galaxies can be used to constrain cosmological models or the nature of dark matter.Comment: 14 pages, 9 figures. Accepted MNRAS. Revised version includes discussion on resolution effects and minor changes

Context. High-mass X-ray binaries (HMXBs) might have contributed a non-negligible fraction of the energy feedback to the interstellar and intergalactic media at high redshift, becoming important sources for the heating and ionization history of the Universe. However, the importance of this contribution depends on the hypothesized increase in the number of HMXBs formed in lowmetallicity galaxies and in their luminosities. Aims. In this work we test the aforementioned hypothesis, and quantify the metallicity dependence of HMXB population properties. Methods. We compile from the literature a large set of data on the sizes and X-ray luminosities of HMXB populations in nearby galaxies with known metallicities and star formation rates. We use Bayesian inference to fit simple Monte Carlo models that describe the metallicity dependence of the size and luminosity of the HMXB populations. Results. We find that HMXBs are typically ten times more numerous per unit star formation rate in low-metallicity galaxies (12 + log(O/H) < 8, namely <20% solar) than in solar-metallicity galaxies. The metallicity dependence of the luminosity of HMXBs is small compared to that of the population size. Conclusions. Our results support the hypothesis that HMXBs are more numerous in low-metallicity galaxies, implying the need to investigate the feedback in the form of X-rays and energetic mass outflows of these high-energy sources during cosmic dawn.

Context. Galaxy formation in the current cosmological paradigm is a very complex process in which inflows, outflows, interactions, and mergers are common events. These processes can redistribute the angular momentum content of baryons. Recent observational results suggest that disc formed conserving angular momentum while elliptical galaxies, although they lose angular momentum, determine a correlation between the specific angular momentum of the galaxy and the stellar mass. These observations provide stringent constraints for galaxy formation models in a hierarchical clustering scenario. Aims. We aim to analyse the specific angular momentum content of the disc and bulge components as a function of virial mass, stellar mass, and redshift. We also estimate the size of the simulated galaxies and compare them with observations. Methods. We use cosmological hydrodynamical simulations that include an effective, physically motivated supernova feedback which is able to regulate the star formation in haloes of different masses. We analyse the morphology and formation history of a sample of galaxies in a cosmological simulation by performing a bulge-disc decomposition of the analysed systems and their progenitors. We estimate the angular momentum content of the stellar and gaseous discs, stellar bulges, and total baryons. Results. In agreement with recent observational findings, our simulated galaxies have disc and spheroid components whose specific angular momentum content determine correlations with the stellar and dark matter masses with the same slope, although the spheroidal components are offset by a fixed fraction. The average angular momentum efficiency for the simulated discs is η ∼ 1, while for bulges it is η ∼ 0.10−0.20. For the simulated sample, the correlations found for the specific angular momentum content as a function of virial mass or stellar mass are found not to evolve significantly with redshift (up to z ∼ 2). Both dynamical components seem to move along the correlations as they evolve. The total specific angular momentum of galaxies occupy different positions filling the gap between pure rotational-dominated and dispersion-dominated systems. The scaling relations derived from the simulated galaxies determine a similar relation with the virial radius, which is in agreement with recent observations.

We study oxygen abundance profiles of the gaseous disc components in simulated galaxies in a hierarchical universe. We analyse the disc metallicity gradients in relation to the stellar masses and star formation rates of the simulated galaxies. We find a trend for galaxies with low stellar masses to have steeper metallicity gradients than galaxies with high stellar masses at z ∼ 0. We also detect that the gas-phase metallicity slopes and the specific star formation rate (sSFR) of our simulated disc galaxies are consistent with recently reported observations at z ∼ 0. Simulated galaxies with high stellar masses reproduce the observed relationship at all analysed redshifts and have an increasing contribution of discs with positive metallicity slopes with increasing redshift. Simulated galaxies with low stellar masses a have larger fraction of negative metallicity gradients with increasing redshift. Simulated galaxies with positive or very negative metallicity slopes exhibit disturbed morphologies and/or have a close neighbour. We analyse the evolution of the slope of the oxygen profile and sSFR for a gas-rich galaxygalaxy encounter, finding that this kind of events could generate either positive and negative gas-phase oxygen profiles depending on their state of evolution. Our results support claims that the determination of reliable metallicity gradients as a function of redshift is a key piece of information to understand galaxy formation and set constrains on the subgrid physics.