Mitogenomic Meta-Analysis Identifies Two Phases of Migration in the History of Eastern Eurasian Sheep

Abstract

Despite much attention, history of sheep (Ovis aries) evolution, including its dating, demographic trajectory and geographic spread, remains controversial. To address these questions, we generated 45 complete and 875 partial mitogenomic sequences, and performed a meta-analysis of these and published ovine mitochondrial DNA sequences (n = 3,229) across Eurasia. We inferred that O. orientalis and O. musimon share the most recent female ancestor with O. aries at approximately 0.790 Ma (95% CI: 0.637–0.934 Ma) during the Middle Pleistocene, substantially predating the domestication event (∼8–11 ka). By reconstructing historical variations in effective population size, we found evidence of a rapid population increase approximately 20–60 ka, immediately before the Last Glacial Maximum. Analyses of lineage expansions showed two sheep migratory waves at approximately 4.5–6.8 ka (lineages A and B: ∼6.4–6.8 ka; C: ∼4.5 ka) across eastern Eurasia, which could have been influenced by prehistoric West–East commercial trade and deliberate mating of domestic and wild sheep, respectively. A continent-scale examination of lineage diversity and approximate Bayesian computation analyses indicated that the Mongolian Plateau region was a secondary center of dispersal, acting as a “transportation hub” in eastern Eurasia: Sheep from the Middle Eastern domestication center were inferred to have migrated through the Caucasus and Central Asia, and arrived in North and Southwest China (lineages A, B, and C) and the Indian subcontinent (lineages B and C) through this region. Our results provide new insights into sheep domestication, particularly with respect to origins and migrations to and from eastern Eurasia.

Genome‐wide association analysis identifies the genetic basis of fat deposition in the tails of sheep (Ovis aries)

“…Kazakh sheep) breeds (Safdarian et al 2008). Because fat tails are a valuable energy reserve, fat-tailed sheep can adapt to environments with harsh conditions such as drought seasons, extreme cold winters and food shortages (Ma et al 2006;Nejati-Javaremi et al 2007;Moradi et al 2012;Lv et al 2015). In addition, these sheep are an important source of dietary fat, particularly for the Islamic people (Kashan et al 2005).…”

How to better conserve with genetic data: origin and population structure of Brazilian locally adapted hair sheep (Ovis aries) breeds

“…Cattle, sheep, goats and pigs were domesticated in the region from Central Anatolia to the north of the Zagros Mountains (southwest Asia), known as the Fertile Crescent (1). Sheep domestication started 11,000 years before the present (BP) (1) and played an important role in human society, spreading almost globally, following human migrations (2). Phylogeography of the genus Ovis is complex, involving several species and hybrids (3).…”

“…Present day sheep ( Ovis orientalis aries ) are the product of two maternally distinct ancestral Ovis gmelinii populations and may be domesticated from Asiatic mouflon ( O. orientalis ), involving multiple independent domestication events in different geographic locations (1), mainly in the Middle East and North China. Strong historical human mediated gene flow across Eurasia has been observed (2). In addition, crossbreeding between wild and domestic populations has persisted and contributed to the high genetic diversity and admixture observed up to the present in sheep populations (4).…”

“…According to Lv et al (2), the main migratory routes of sheep from Middle East to Eurasia and Africa included the Mediterranean, Danubian, Northern Europe and ancient sea trade routes to the Indian subcontinent, as well as routes of introduction and spread of sheep pastoralism in Africa. Thereafter, sheep populations were submitted to widely variable pastoral environments, which may have maintained natural selection pressure on sheep populations (2). Moreover, sheep were first reared for meat production, and later, for skin and milk production and, more recently, for wool (5), which contributes to different breeding goals and retained genetic diversity.…”

Türkiye’den 12 Yerli, Karagül, Karacabey Merinosu ve Anadolu Yaban Koyununda (Ovis gmelinii anatolica) Y-Kromozom Polimorfizmleri

“…Various genetic markers of Y chromosome [6][7][8][9] , mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17] and autosomal markers [5,15,18,19] of domestic sheep are used to understand the evolutionary history of the domestic sheep genome. [6][7][8] .…”