An historical and biogeographical assessment of European Merino sheep breeds by microsatellite markers

Landi, Vincenzo; Lasagna, Emiliano; Ceccobelli, Simone; Martínez, Amparo Martínez; Santos-Silva, F.; Vega-Pla, J.L.; Panella, Francesco; Allain, Daniel; Palhière, Isabelle; Murawski, M.; Dunner, S.; Gama, L. T.; Barba, Cecilio; Delgado, Juan Vicente; Sarti, Francesca Maria

doi:10.1016/j.smallrumres.2019.06.018

Cited by 5 publications

(6 citation statements)

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“…Over the past decades, several genetic population studies have been performed to explore the patterns of variability and population structure of the Merino and Merino-derived breeds. Different approaches have been adopted to analyse their genetic diversity, especially based on molecular markers, such as microsatellites and mtDNA [ 30 – 32 ], SNP arrays [ 33 – 36 ] and whole-genome resequencing data [ 29 , 37 ]. Recent papers have contributed to the reconstruction of the Merino history and the so-called worldwide phenomenon of “Merinization”, defining the genetic basis and underlying the specific Merino phenotype, by using genome-wide SNP data [ 17 , 38 , 39 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A comprehensive analysis of the genetic diversity and environmental adaptability in worldwide Merino and Merino-derived sheep breeds

et al. 2023

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Background To enhance and extend the knowledge about the global historical and phylogenetic relationships between Merino and Merino-derived breeds, 19 populations were genotyped with the OvineSNP50 BeadChip specifically for this study, while an additional 23 populations from the publicly available genotypes were retrieved. Three complementary statistical tests, Rsb (extended haplotype homozygosity between-populations), XP-EHH (cross-population extended haplotype homozygosity), and runs of homozygosity (ROH) islands were applied to identify genomic variants with potential impact on the adaptability of Merino genetic type in two contrasting climate zones. Results The results indicate that a large part of the Merino’s genetic relatedness and admixture patterns are explained by their genetic background and/or geographic origin, followed by local admixture. Multi-dimensional scaling, Neighbor-Net, Admixture, and TREEMIX analyses consistently provided evidence of the role of Australian, Rambouillet and German strains in the extensive gene introgression into the other Merino and Merino-derived breeds. The close relationship between Iberian Merinos and other South-western European breeds is consistent with the Iberian origin of the Merino genetic type, with traces from previous contributions of other Mediterranean stocks. Using Rsb and XP-EHH approaches, signatures of selection were detected spanning four genomic regions located on Ovis aries chromosomes (OAR) 1, 6 and 16, whereas two genomic regions on OAR6, that partially overlapped with the previous ones, were highlighted by ROH islands. Overall, the three approaches identified 106 candidate genes putatively under selection. Among them, genes related to immune response were identified via the gene interaction network. In addition, several candidate genes were found, such as LEKR1, LCORL, GHR, RBPJ, BMPR1B, PPARGC1A, and PRKAA1, related to morphological, growth and reproductive traits, adaptive thermogenesis, and hypoxia responses. Conclusions To the best of our knowledge, this is the first comprehensive dataset that includes most of the Merino and Merino-derived sheep breeds raised in different regions of the world. The results provide an in-depth picture of the genetic makeup of the current Merino and Merino-derived breeds, highlighting the possible selection pressures associated with the combined effect of anthropic and environmental factors. The study underlines the importance of Merino genetic types as invaluable resources of possible adaptive diversity in the context of the occurring climate changes.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A comprehensive analysis of the genetic diversity and environmental adaptability in worldwide Merino and Merino-derived sheep breeds

et al. 2023

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“…Frontiers in Genetics frontiersin.org S4 for details on each individual included in the analysis. Frontiers in Genetics frontiersin.org 09 were based on either mitochondrial data or a limited number of microsatellite markers (Pereira et al, 2006;Santos-Silva et al, 2008;Landi et al, 2019). We report genomic variation and ROH patterns in these breeds.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…When only Iberian sheep were considered, the Portuguese Merino breeds grouped together in the PCA, along with their Spanish counterparts. These breeds share a common genetic background that could result to some extent from their geographic proximity (Landi et al, 2019). The CAM and SE breeds belong to a more heterogeneous group that included other Iberian breeds such as Churra from Spain, as well as other European sheep raised for milk (e.g., Lacaune originally from France), meat (e.g., Pag Island sheep from Croatia upgraded with Merino), or as dual-purpose animals (e.g., Leccese from Italy).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genome-wide assessment of the population structure and genetic diversity of four Portuguese native sheep breeds

Gaspar

Usié²,

Leão³

et al. 2023

Front. Genet.

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As the effects of global warming become increasingly complex and difficult to manage, the conservation and sustainable use of locally adapted sheep breeds are gaining ground. Portuguese native sheep breeds are important reservoirs of genetic diversity, highly adapted to harsh environments and reared in low input production systems. Genomic data that would describe the breeds in detail and accelerate the selection of more resilient animals to be able to cope with climatic challenges are still lacking. Here, we sequenced the genomes of 37 animals from four Portuguese native sheep breeds (Campaniça, Bordaleira Serra da Estrela, Merino Branco and Merino Preto) and 19 crossbred sheep to make inferences on their genomic diversity and population structure. Mean genomic diversities were very similar across these breeds (.30 ≤ Ho ≤ .34; .30 ≤ He ≤ .35; 1.7 × 10–3 ≤ π ≤ 3.1 × 10–3) and the levels of inbreeding were negligible (.005 ≤ FIS ≤ .038). The Principal Components, Bayesian clustering and Treemix analyses split the Portuguese breeds in two main groups which are consistent with historical records: one comprising Campaniça and Serra da Estrela together with other European and transboundary dairy breeds; and another of the well-differentiated multi-purpose Merino and Merino-related breeds. Runs of homozygosity analyses yielded 1,690 ROH segments covering an average of 2.27 Gb across the genome in all individuals. The overall genome covered by ROH segments varied from 27,75 Mb in Serra da Estrela to 61,29 Mb in Campaniça. The phylogenetic analysis of sheep mitogenomes grouped the Portuguese native breeds within sub-haplogroup B1a along with two animals of the Akkaraman breed from Turkey. This result provides additional support to a direct influence of Southwest Asian sheep in local breeds from the Iberian Peninsula. Our study is a first step pertaining to the genomic characterization of Portuguese sheep breeds and the results emphasize the potential of genomic data as a valid tool to guide conservation efforts in locally adapted sheep breeds. In addition, the genomic data we generated can be used to identify markers for breed assignment and traceability of certified breed-products.

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“…In addition, the gene flow between American and Near Eastern sheep breeds was explored by Blackburn et al [ 22 ]. The usefulness of microsatellite markers in the estimation of sheep populations’ genetic structure and breeds’ divergence was highlighted by several studies on both Mediterranean coasts [ 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 ]. Despite the important role of the Mediterranean basin in the diffusion of sheep to the European and African coast since the beginning of the Neolithic, no studies have been focused on the assessment of the westward Mediterranean sheep migration, neither by sea, nor by land routes, including simultaneously Northern and Southern occidental Mediterranean sheep breeds, except for the recent investigations of sheep breeds from the Maghreb, Tunisian, Algerian and Moroccan [ 32 , 33 , 34 ] that have reported the origin and the migration events of the analyzed breeds.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Historical Westward Migration Phases of Ovis aries Inferred from the Population Structure and the Phylogeography of Occidental Mediterranean Native Sheep Breeds

Sassi-Zaidy

Mohamed-Brahmi

Chaouch

et al. 2022

Genes

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In this study, the genetic relationship and the population structure of western Mediterranean basin native sheep breeds is investigated, analyzing Maghrebian, Central Italian, and Venetian sheep with a highly informative microsatellite markers panel. The phylogeographical analysis, between breeds’ differentiation level (Wright’s fixation index), gene flow, ancestral relatedness measured by molecular coancestry, genetic distances, divergence times estimates and structure analyses, were revealed based on the assessment of 975 genotyped animals. The results unveiled the past introduction and migration history of sheep in the occidental Mediterranean basin since the early Neolithic. Our findings provided a scenario of three westward sheep migration phases fitting properly to the westward Neolithic expansion argued by zooarcheological, historical and human genetic studies.

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An historical and biogeographical assessment of European Merino sheep breeds by microsatellite markers

Cited by 5 publications

References 31 publications

A comprehensive analysis of the genetic diversity and environmental adaptability in worldwide Merino and Merino-derived sheep breeds

A comprehensive analysis of the genetic diversity and environmental adaptability in worldwide Merino and Merino-derived sheep breeds

Genome-wide assessment of the population structure and genetic diversity of four Portuguese native sheep breeds

Historical Westward Migration Phases of Ovis aries Inferred from the Population Structure and the Phylogeography of Occidental Mediterranean Native Sheep Breeds

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