African matrilineages in American Creole Cattle: evidence of two independent continental sources

LIRON, J. P.; BRAVI, C. M.; MIROL, P. M.; GIOVAMBATTISTA, G.

Animal Genetics

Blackwell Publishing

Año: 2006 p. 1 - 1

0268-9146

In order to clarify the historical origin and phylogeographic affinities ofCreole cattle matrilineages throughout the American continent, we analysedpublished D-loop mtDNA sequences (n = 454) from Creole, Iberian and Africancattle breeds. The Western European T3 haplogroup was the most common inAmerican Creole cattle (63.6%), followed by the African T1 (32.4%) and the NearEastern T2 haplogroups (4%). None of the sequences were found in Bos indicustypes. Within the African T1 haplogroup there were two subclades, T1a and T1*,whose geographic distribution in America was clearly disjointed. T1a is a highlydivergent clade originally reported for Creole cattle from Brazil and the LesserAntilles, but whose geographic distribution in Africa remains unknown. Incontrast, lineages attributable to T1* are restricted in America to the regioncolonized by the Spaniards. We propose a new hypothesis for the origins ofCreole cattle that summarizes all previously published historical and geneticdata. While the African T1* fraction in Creole cattle may have arrived inAmerica through the Iberian breeds, the divergent T1a lineages may have beenintroduced by Portuguese and other European crowns from some unknown,not-yet-sampled African location. Additional molecular studies will be requiredfor pinpointing the specific African regional source.