Revealing the history of sheep domestication using retrovirus integrations

B. Chessa (1, 2) , F. Pereira (3) , Frederick Arnaud (4) , A. Amorim (3) , F. Goyache (5) , I. Mainland (6) , R. R. Kao (4) , J. M. Pemberton (7) , D. Beraldi (7) , M. J. Stear (3) , A. Alberti (2) , M. Pittau (2) , L. Iannuzzi (8) , M. H. Banabazi (9) , R. R. Kazwala (10) , Y.-P. Zhang (11) , J. J. Arranz (12) , B. A. Ali (13) , Z. Wang (14) , M. Uzun (15) , M. M. Dione (16) , I. Olsaker (17) , L.-E. Holm (18) , U. Saarma (19) , S. Ahmad (20) , N. Marzanov (21) , E. Eythorsdottir (22) , M. J. Holland (23, 24) , P. Ajmone-Marsan (25) , M. W. Bruford (26) , J. Kantanen (27) , T. E. Spencer (28) , M. Palmarini (4)

1 Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Institute Comparative Medicine
2 Dipartimento Patologio & Clinica Veterinaria
3 Institute Patology and Imunology Molecular, Fac Ciencias
4 Faculty Veterinary Medicine, Institute Comparative Medicine
5 Area Genetic and Reproduction Animale
6 Division Archael Geography and Environmental Science
7 School Biology Science, Institute Evolutionary Biology
8 Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics
9 Animal Science Research Institute Iran, Department of Biotechnology
10 Department Veterinary Medicine and Public Health
11 Kunming Institute of Zoology, tate Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution
12 Faculty Veterinary, Department Animal Production
13 Engineering and Biotechnology Research Institute
14 National Diagnostic Center for Exotic Animal Disease
15 School Health Science
16 Intitute Trypanotolerance Center
17 Department Basic Science and Aquatic Medicine
18 Faculty of Agricultural Science, Department Genetic and Biotechnology
19 Institute Ecologic and Earth Science, Department of Zoology
20 Agricultural University Peshawar
21 All Russian Research Institute Animal Husbandry
22 Agricultural University of Iceland
23 MRC Labs
24 School Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
25 Istitut Zootecnie
26 School of Biosciences [Cardiff]
27 Biotechnology and Food Research
28 Center Animal Biotechnology and Genomic

The domestication of livestock represented a crucial step in human history. By using endogenous retroviruses as genetic markers, we found that sheep differentiated on the basis of their “retrotype” and morphological traits dispersed across Eurasia and Africa via separate migratory episodes. Relicts of the first migrations include the Mouflon, as well as breeds previously recognized as “primitive” on the basis of their morphology, such as the Orkney, Soay, and the Nordic short-tailed sheep now confined to the periphery of northwest Europe. A later migratory episode, involving sheep with improved production traits, shaped the great majority of present-day breeds. The ability to differentiate genetically primitive sheep from more modern breeds provides valuable insights into the history of sheep domestication.

Mots clés: wether hoggs

Mots clés: domestication animale; mouton; rétrovirus endogène

Domaines: Sciences du Vivant [q-bio]

B. Chessa, F. Pereira, Frederick Arnaud, A. Amorim, F. Goyache, et al.. Revealing the history of sheep domestication using retrovirus integrations. Science, 2009, 324 (5926), pp.532-536. ⟨10.1126/science.1170587⟩. ⟨hal-01608619⟩