Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-8bhkd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-18T10:13:33.076Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

A genetic analysis of the Italian Salernitano horse

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 July 2015

A. Criscione
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Agricoltura, Alimentazione e Ambiente (Di3A) Università degli Studi di Catania, via Valdisavoia 5, 95123 Catania, Italy
V. Moltisanti
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Agricoltura, Alimentazione e Ambiente (Di3A) Università degli Studi di Catania, via Valdisavoia 5, 95123 Catania, Italy
L. Chies
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Scienze delle Produzioni Agrarie, Università Mediterranea di Reggio Calabria, Località Feo di Vito, 89122 Reggio Calabria, Italy
D. Marletta*
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Agricoltura, Alimentazione e Ambiente (Di3A) Università degli Studi di Catania, via Valdisavoia 5, 95123 Catania, Italy
S. Bordonaro
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Agricoltura, Alimentazione e Ambiente (Di3A) Università degli Studi di Catania, via Valdisavoia 5, 95123 Catania, Italy
*
Get access

Abstract

Salernitano (SAL) is an ancient Italian horse breed developed over the course of the ages together with Napoletano and, during the 20th century, by crossing with Thoroughbred horse lines. Excellent in hurdle jumping, this breed is currently facing a concrete risk of extinction due to the lack of appropriate management strategies. This research is the first SAL genetic characterization that aims to set up the basic knowledge for a conservation plan. A representative sample of 61 SALs was analyzed by means of a set of 16 microsatellites markers (short tandem repeats (STRs)). The sequence of hypervariable D-loop mtDNA region was also performed on a subset of 24 mares in order to study the maternal diversity and obtain a complete picture of the internal genetic variation. All the molecular data were analyzed together with those obtained from three Sicilian horse breeds investigated in a previous research (Siciliano, Sanfratellano and Sicilian Oriental Purebred). STRs markers revealed a moderate level of genetic diversity in SAL (alleles/locus 5.1, He 0.67) and confirmed the hunch of genetic erosion. Autosomal variability highlighted a very light deficit of homozygotes (FIS=−0.067). Experimental D-loop sequences were compared by multiple alignments with those retrieved from biological databases and revealed two unreported haplotypes. The phylogenetic network, which was built on mtDNA sequences, included various cosmopolitan and European horses and showed SAL haplotypes distributed among different mtDNA lineages.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© The Animal Consortium 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aberle, KS, Hamann, H, Drögemüller, C and Distl, O 2007. Phylogenetic relationships of German heavy draught horse breeds inferred from mitochondrial DNA D-loop variation. Journal of Animal Breeding and Genetics 124, 94100.Google Scholar
Achilli, A, Olivieri, A, Soares, P, Lancioni, H, Kashani, BH, Perego, UA, Nergadze, SG, Carossa, V, Santagostino, M, Capomaccio, S, Felicetti, M, Al-Achkar, W, Penedo, MCT, Verini-Supplizi, A, Houshmand, M, Woodward, SR, Semino, O, Silvestrelli, M, Giulotto, E, Pereira, L, Bandelt, HJ and Torroni, A 2012. Mitochondrial genomes from modern horses reveal the major haplogroups that underwent domestication. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 109, 24492454.Google Scholar
AIA 2015. Anagrafe degli Equidi. Retrieved April 10, 2015, from http://www.anagrafeequidi.it/index.php?id=217 Google Scholar
Bandelt, HJ, Forster, P and Röhl, A 1999. Median-joining networks for inferring intraspecific phylogenies. Molecular Biology and Evolution 16, 3748.Google Scholar
Bigi, D, Perrotta, G and Zambonelli, P 2014. Genetic analysis of seven Italian horse breeds based on mitochondrial DNA D-loop variation. Animal Genetics 45, 593595.Google Scholar
Botstein, D, White, RL, Skolnick, M and Davis, RW 1980. Construction of a genetic linkage map in man using restriction fragment length polymorphisms. The American Journal of Human Genetics 32, 314331.Google Scholar
Chiari, E 1901. Razze italiane. In Trattato di Ippologia (vol. 2, ed. UTET), pp. 831832. Unione Tipografico Editrice Torino, Italy.Google Scholar
Cothran, EG, Juras, R and Macijauskiene, V 2005. Mitochondrial DNA D-loop sequence variation among 5 maternal lines of the Zemaitukai horse breed. Genetics and Molecular Biology 28, 677681.Google Scholar
Cozzi, MC, Strillacci, MG, Valiati, P, Bighignoli, B, Cancedda, M and Zanotti, M 2004. Mitochondrial D-loop sequence variation among Italian horse breeds. Genetics Selection Evolution 36, 663672.Google Scholar
Diffloth, P 1923. Italie: Races Italiennes. In Encyclopédie Agricole. Zootechnie. Races Chavalines (ed. G Wery), pp. 158159. Librairie J.B. Bailliere et Fils, Paris, France.Google Scholar
Excoffier, L, Laval, G and Schneider, S 2005. Arlequin (version 3.0): an integrated software package for population genetics data analysis. Evolutionary Bioinformatics Online 1, 4750.Google Scholar
Falush, D, Stephens, M and Pritchard, JK 2003. Inference of population structure using multilocus genotype data: linked loci and correlated allele frequencies. Genetics 164, 15671587.Google Scholar
Felicetti, M, Lopes, S, Verini-Supplizi, A, da Camara Machado, A, Silvestrelli, M, Mendonc, D and Distl, O 2010. Genetic diversity in the Maremmano horse and its relationship with other European horse breeds. Animal Genetics 41 (suppl. 2), 5355.Google Scholar
Glowatzki-Mullis, ML, Muntwyler, J, Pfister, W, Marti, E, Rieder, S, Poncet, PA and Gaillard, C 2005. Genetic diversity among horse populations with a special focus on the Franches-Montagnes breed. Animal Genetics 37, 3339.Google Scholar
Goudet, J 2001. FSTAT, a program to estimate and test gene diversities and fixation indices (version 2.9.3). Retrieved June 10, 2013, from http://www2.unil.ch/popgen/softwares/fstat.htm Google Scholar
Guastella, AM, Zuccaro, A, Criscione, A, Marletta, D and Bordonaro, S 2011. Genetic analysis of Sicilian autochthonous horse breeds using nuclear and mitochondrial DNA markers. Journal of Heredity 102, 753758.Google Scholar
Hendricks, BL 1995. International encyclopedia of horse breeds, 1st edition. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, OK, USA.Google Scholar
Jansen, T, Forster, P, Levine, MA, Oelke, H, Hurles, M, Renfrew, C, Weber, J and Olek, K 2002. Mitochondrial DNA and the origins of the domestic horse. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 99, 1090510910.Google Scholar
Jakobsson, M and Rosenberg, NA 2007. CLUMPP: a cluster matching and permutation program for dealing with label switching and multimodality in analysis of population structure. Bioinformatics 23, 18011806.Google Scholar
Kakoi, H, Tozaki, T and Gawahara, H 2007. Molecular analysis using mitochondrial DNA and microsatellites to infer the formation process of Japanese native horse population. Biochemical Genetics 45, 375393.Google Scholar
Langella, O. Populations, 1.2.30 Copyright (C). CNRS UPR9034; 1999. Retrieved April 9, 2015, from http://bioinformatics.org/~tryphon/populations/ Google Scholar
Lippold, S, Matzke, NJ, Reissmann, M and Hofreiter, M 2011. Whole mitochondrial genome sequencing of domestic horses reveals incorporation of extensive wild horse diversity during domestication. BMC Evolutionary Biology 11, 328.Google Scholar
Lopes, MS, Mendonca, D, Cymbron, T, Valera, M, Da Costa-Ferreira, J and Da Camara-Machado, A 2005. The Lusitano horse maternal lineage based on mitochondrial D-loop sequence variation. Animal Genetics 36, 196202.Google Scholar
Luis, C, Cothran, EG and Oom, MM 2007. Inbreeding and genetic structure in the endangered Sorraia horse breed: implication for its conservation and management. Journal of Heredity 98, 232237.Google Scholar
Marletta, D, Tupac-Yupanqui, I, Bordonaro, S, Garcia, D, Guastella, AM, Criscione, A, Cañón, J and Dunner, S 2006. Analysis of genetic diversity and the determination of relationships among western Mediterranean horse breeds using microsatellite markers. Journal of Animal Breeding and Genetics 123, 315325.Google Scholar
Matassino, D, Barone, CMA, Ciani, F, Incoronato, C, Occidente, M and Santoro, L 2013. Equine autochthonous genetic types: molecular characterization by microsatellite markers. Italian Journal of Animal Science 12, 80.Google Scholar
Morelli, L, Useli, A, Sanna, D, Barbato, M, Contu, D, Pala, M, Cancedda, M and Francalacci, P 2014. Mitochondrial DNA lineages of Italian Giara and Sarcidano horses. Genetics and Molecular Research 13, 82418257.Google Scholar
Moridi, M, Masoudi, AA, Vaez Torshizi, R and Hill, EW 2012. Mitochondrial DNA D-loop sequence variation in maternal lineages of Iranian native horses. Animal Genetics 44, 209213.Google Scholar
Nei, M, Tajima, F and Tateno, Y 1983. Accuracy of estimated phylogenetic trees from molecular data. Journal of Molecular Evolution 19, 153170.Google Scholar
Peakall, R and Smouse, P 2006. Genalex 6: genetic analysis in Excel. Population genetic software for teaching and research. Molecular Ecology Notes 6, 288295.Google Scholar
Pérez-Gutiérrez, LM, De La Peña, A and Arena, P 2008. Genetic analysis of Hispano-Breton horse. Animal Genetics 39, 506514.Google Scholar
Polzin, T and Daneschmand, SV 2003. On Steiner trees and minimum spanning trees in hypergraphs. Operations Research Letters 31, 1220.Google Scholar
Rosenberg, NA 2004. DISTRUCT: a program for the graphical display of population structure. Molecular Ecology Notes 4, 137138.Google Scholar
Solis, A, Jugo, BM, Mèriaux, JC, Iriondo, M, Mazòn, LI, Aguirre, AI, Vicario, A and Estomba, A 2005. Genetic diversity within and among four South European native horse breed on microsatellite DNA analysis: applications for conservation. Journal of Heredity 96, 670678.Google Scholar
Tamura, K, Peterson, D, Peterson, N, Stecher, G, Nei, M and Kumar, S 2011. MEGA5: molecular evolutionary genetics analysis using maximum likelihood, evolutionary distance, and maximum parsimony methods. Molecular Biology and Evolution 28, 27312739.Google Scholar
Thirstrup, JP, Pertoldi, C and Loeschcke, V 2008. Genetic analysis, breed assignment and conservation priorities of three native Danish horse breeds. Animal Genetics 39, 496505.Google Scholar
Vila, C, Leonard, JA, Gotherstrom, A, Marklund, S, Sandberg, K, Liden, K, Wayne, RK and Elleggren, H 2001. Widespread origins of domestic horse lineages. Science 291, 474477.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Criscione supplementary material

Table S1-S2

Download Criscione supplementary material(File)
File 18 KB