Microsatellite genotyping of medieval cattle from central Italy suggests an old origin of Chianina and Romagnola cattle

Frontiers in Genetics
Maria GarganiAlessio Valentini

Abstract

Analysis of DNA from archeological remains is a valuable tool to interpret the history of ancient animal populations. So far most studies of ancient DNA target mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), which reveals maternal lineages, but only partially the relationships of current breeds and ancient populations. In this study we explore the feasibility of nuclear DNA analysis. DNA was extracted from 1000-years old cattle bone collected from Ferento, an archeological site in central Italy. Amplification of 15 microsatellite FAO-recommended markers with PCR products yielded genotypes for four markers. Expected heterozygosity was comparable with values of modern breeds, but observed heterozygosity was underestimated due to allelic loss. Genetic distances suggested a position intermediate between (1) Anatolian, Balkan, Sicilian and South-Italian cattle and (2) the Iberian, North-European and Central-European cattle, but also a clear relationship with two central-Italian breeds, Chianina and Romagnola. This suggests that these breeds are derived from medieval cattle living in the same area. Our results illustrate the potential of ancient DNA for reconstructing the history of local cattle husbandry.

References

May 19, 1998·American Journal of Physical Anthropology·D Y YangS R Saunders
Nov 11, 1999·Molecular Biology and Evolution·A D GreenwoodS Pääbo
Mar 12, 2004·American Journal of Human Genetics·Cristiano VernesiGuido Barbujani
Jun 4, 2005·Science·James P NoonanEdward M Rubin
Sep 19, 2006·Animal Genetics·UNKNOWN European Cattle Genetic Diversity Consortium
Feb 16, 2007·Proceedings. Biological Sciences·Marco PellecchiaPaolo Ajmone-Marsan
Jul 17, 2007·Human Genetics·David CaramelliGuido Barbujani
May 8, 2010·Science·Richard E GreenSvante Pääbo
Jun 4, 2010·Animal Genetics·P Ajmone-Marsan, UNKNOWN GLOBALDIV Consortium
Feb 2, 2011·BMC Evolutionary Biology·Martina LariGiorgio Bertorelle
Jan 12, 2012·The Journal of Heredity·Yasuko IshidaAlex D Greenwood

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Citations

Dec 5, 2015·Frontiers in Genetics·Stéphane JoostUNKNOWN Genomic-Resources Consortium
Feb 21, 2018·PloS One·Piera Di LorenzoAlessandro Achilli
May 14, 2019·Evolutionary Applications·Maulik UpadhyayRichard P M A Crooijmans
Jan 30, 2020·Scientific Reports·Mario BarbatoPaolo Ajmone-Marsan

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Methods Mentioned

BETA
PCR
electrophoresis
PCRs
PCA
genotyping

Software Mentioned

Structure
CEQ
MSToolkit
MSAT2
Primer3
Genalex
Simmental

Related Concepts

Related Feeds

Ancient DNA

Ancient DNA sequences are able to offer valuable insights into molecular evolutionary processes, but are notoriously difficult to analyze due to molecular damage and exogenous dna contamination. Discover the latest research on Ancient DNA here.

© 2021 Meta ULC. All rights reserved