title: Genetic relationships among American donkey populations: insights into the process of colonization.
abstract: This study presents the first insights into the genetic diversity and structure of the American donkey metapopulation. The primary objectives were to detect the main structural features underlying variability among American donkey populations, identify boundaries between differentiated gene pools, and draw the main colonization pathways since the introduction of donkeys into America in the 15th century. A panel of 14 microsatellite markers was applied for genotyping 350 American donkeys from 13 countries. The genetic structure of this metapopulation was analysed using descriptive statistics and Bayesian model-based methods. These populations were then compared to a database containing information on 476 individuals from 11 European breeds to identify the most likely ancestral donor populations. Results showed the presence of two distinct genetic pools, with confluence of the two in Colombia. The southern pool showed a unique genetic signature subsequent to an older founder event, but lacked any significant influence of modern gene flow from Europe. The northern pool, conversely, may have retained more ancestral polymorphisms and/or have experienced modern gene flow from Spanish breeds. The Andalusian and, to a lesser extent, the Catalan breeds have left a more pronounced footprint in some of the American donkey populations analysed.
authors.affiliation: Departament de Ciència Animal i dels Aliments, Facultat de Veterinària, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jordana
authors.affiliation: Departament de Ciència Animal i dels Aliments, Facultat de Veterinària, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ferrando
authors.affiliation: Departament de Medicina i Cirurgia Animals, Facultat de Veterinària, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Miró
authors.affiliation: Área de Genética y Reproducción Animal, SERIDA-Deva, Gijón, Spain.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Goyache
authors.affiliation: Ministerio de Agricultura, Ganadería y Alimentación, Quetzaltenango, Guatemala.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Loarca
authors.affiliation: Dirección General de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica, Centro Multidisciplinario de Investigaciones Tecnológicas, Universidad Nacional de Asunción, Asunción, Paraguay.
authors.forename: O R
authors.initials: OR
authors.lastname: Martínez López
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Producción e Industria Animal, Decanato de Ciencias Veterinarias, Universidad Centroccidental Lisandro Alvarado, Barquisimeto, Venezuela.
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Canelón
authors.affiliation: Facultad de Ciencias Agrícolas y Pecuarias, Universidad Mayor de San Simón, Cochabamba, Bolivia.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Stemmer
authors.affiliation: Centro Biotecnología Reproductiva Animal, Universidad Nacional de Loja, Loja, Ecuador.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Aguirre
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Zootecnia, Nova Odessa, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: M A C
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Lara
authors.affiliation: Sede Palmira, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Palmira, Valle del Cauca, Colombia.
authors.forename: L A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Álvarez
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Producción Animal, Área Genética, Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad de la República (UdelaR), Montevideo, Uruguay.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Llambí
authors.affiliation: Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria y Zootecnia, Universidad Nacional Micaela Bastidas de Apurímac, Abancay, Peru.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Gómez
authors.affiliation: Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária, Universidade Técnica de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal.
authors.forename: L T
authors.initials: LT
authors.lastname: Gama
authors.affiliation: AEPGA Associação para o Estudo e Protecção do Gado Asinino, Atenor, Portugal.
authors.forename: M F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Nóvoa
authors.affiliation: Mejora y Conservación de Recursos Genéticos, Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias, Universidad Nacional de Lomas de Zamora, Llavallol, Argentina.
authors.forename: R D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Martínez
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Salud y Explotación Animal, Universidad de Granma, Bayamo, Cuba.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Pérez
authors.affiliation: Posgrado e Investigación, Instituto Tecnológico de Conkal, Yucatán, Mexico.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sierra
authors.affiliation: Escuela de Medicina Veterinaria, UST Sede Santiago, Santiago, Chile.
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Contreras
authors.affiliation: Sezione di Scienze delle Produzioni Animali, Dipartimento di Agricoltura, Alimentazione e Ambiente, Università degli studi di Catania, Catania, Italy.
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Guastella
authors.affiliation: Sezione di Scienze delle Produzioni Animali, Dipartimento di Agricoltura, Alimentazione e Ambiente, Università degli studi di Catania, Catania, Italy.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Marletta
authors.affiliation: School of Veterinary Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Arsenos
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Curik
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Genética, Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad de Córdoba, Córdoba, Spain.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Landi
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Genética, Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad de Córdoba, Córdoba, Spain.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Martínez
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Genética, Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad de Córdoba, Córdoba, Spain.
authors.forename: J V
authors.initials: JV
authors.lastname: Delgado
mesh_terms: D000569:Americas; D000818:Animals; D001499:Bayes Theorem; D018397:Equidae / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005828:Genetics, Population
keywords: Bayesian inference; Creole livestock; endangered breeds; genetic resources; microsatellites