title: Mitochondrial analysis sheds light on the origin of hair sheep.
abstract: A total of 180 mtDNA sequences from hair Caribbean (93), West African (73) and Canarian-wooled (14) sheep were analysed to shed light on the origin of hair sheep. A comparison of 360 Iberian sheep sequences retrieved from GenBank was performed to assess a possible European origin of the Caribbean hair sheep. These 180 sequences gave 48 different haplotypes (16 in Caribbean sheep). All Caribbean and Canarian-wooled sequences and 91.8% of the West African samples belonged to haplogroup B. The sheep analysed showed wide haplotypic identity. Caribbean sheep shared roughly two-thirds of their samples with Canarian-wooled and West African samples, respectively. Principal component analysis showed that the Caribbean and the Canarian-wooled sheep clustered together. Additional analyses showed that hair and Iberian sheep had wide genetic identity. It was not possible to ascertain a single Canarian, African or European origin of the Caribbean hair sheep using mtDNA markers only. European, African and Caribbean hair sheep maternal genetic backgrounds likely result from related domestication events.
authors.affiliation: Área de Genética y Reproducción Animal, SERIDA-Deva, Camino de Rioseco 1225, E-33394, Gijón, Spain.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Álvarez
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Capote
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Traoré
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Fonseca
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Pérez
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cuervo
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Fernández
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Goyache
mesh_terms: D000354:Africa, Western; D000818:Animals; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics*; D005787:Gene Frequency; D005819:Genetic Markers; D006197:Hair; D006239:Haplotypes; D058974:Phylogeography; D025341:Principal Component Analysis; D034561:Sheep, Domestic / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D013030:Spain; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial; D005819:Genetic Markers