Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2013 May 31;8(5):e64985.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0064985. Print 2013.

Y-chromosome analysis in Retuertas horses

Claudia Brandariz-Fontes  1 , Jennifer A Leonard, José Luis Vega-Pla, Niclas Backström, Gabriella Lindgren, Sebastian Lippold, Ciro Rico
Affiliations

Y-chromosome analysis in Retuertas horses

Claudia Brandariz-Fontes et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Several studies based on a variety of genetic markers have attempted to establish the origins of horse domestication. Thus far a discrepancy between the results of mitochondrial DNA analysis, which show high levels of diversity, and results from the Y-chromosome, with almost no genetic variability, has been identified. Most previous work on the horse Y-chromosome has focused on widespread, popular breeds or local Asian breeds. It is possible that these breeds represent a reduced set of the genetic variation present in the species. Additional genetic variation may be present in local breeds and ancient feral populations, such as the Retuertas horse in Spain. In this study we analyzed the Y-chromosome of the Retuertas horse, a feral horse population on the Iberian Peninsula that is at least several hundred years old, and whose genetic diversity and morphology suggests that it has been reproductively isolated for a long time. Data from the Retuertas horse was compared to another 11 breeds from the region (Portugal, Spain and France) or likely of Iberian origin, and then to data from 15 more breeds from around the globe. We sequenced 31 introns, Zinc finger Y-chromosomal protein (ZFY) and anonymous Y-linked fragments and genotyped 6 microsatellite loci found on the Y-chromosome. We found no sequence variation among all individuals and all breeds studied. However, fifteen differences were discovered between our data set and reference sequences in GenBank. We show that these likely represent errors within the deposited sequences, and suggest that they should not be used as comparative data for future projects.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

References

    1. Vilà C, Leonard JA, Götherström A, Marklund S, Sandberg K, et al. (2001) Widespread Origins of Domestic Horse Lineages. Science 291: 474–477 DOI:10.1126/science.291.5503.474 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Cieslak M, Pruvost M, Benecke N, Hofreiter M, Morales A, et al. (2010) Origin and History of Mitochondrial DNA Lineages in Domestic Horses. PLoS ONE 5(12): e15311 DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0015311 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Lippold S, Matzke N, Reissmann M, Hofreiter M (2011) Whole mitochondrial genome sequencing of domestic horses reveals incorporation of extensive wild horse diversity during domestication. BMC Evol Biol 11: 328 DOI:–––10.1186/1471–2148–11–328 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Santani AB (2004) Genomic analysis of the horse Y-chromosome. PhD thesis, Texas A & M University, USA.
    1. Wallner B, Brem G, Müller M, Achmann R (2003) Fixed nucleotide differences on the Y-chromosome indicate clear divergence between Equus przewalskii and Equus caballus. Anim Genet 34: 453–456 DOI:–10.1046/j.0268–9146.2003.01044.x - DOI - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources