African and European mitochondrial haplotypes in South American Creole cattle.

P. MIROL; G. GIOVAMBATTISTA; J. LIRON; F. DULOUT

HEREDITY

Año: 2003 p. 248 - 254

0018-067X

South American Creole cattle are direct descendants of theanimals brought to the New World by the Spanish andPortuguese during the 16th century. A portion of themitochondrial D-loop was sequenced in 36 animals from fiveCreole cattle populations in Argentina and four in Bolivia.Individuals belonging to the potentially ancestral Spanishbreed Retinta were also analysed. Sequence comparisonsrevealed three main groups: two with the characteristics ofEuropean breeds and a third showing the transitionsrepresentative of the African taurine breeds. The Africansequences were found in two populations from Argentina andthree populations from Bolivia, whose only connections goback to colonial times. The most probable explanation for thefinding is that animals could have been moved from Africa toSpain during the long-lasting Arabian occupation that startedin the seventh century, and from the Iberian Peninsula toAmerica eight centuries later. However, since Africanhaplotypes were not found in the Spanish sample, thepossibility of cattle transported directly from Africa cannot bedisregarded.