Prehistoric Genomes Reveal The Genetic Foundation And Cost Of Horse Domestication

Prehistoric Genomes Reveal The Genetic Foundation And Cost Of Horse Domestication: The genetics underlying horse domestication are difficult to reconstruct, given the near extinction of wild horses. Two ancient horse genomes, both predating the earliest archeologically evidence of domestication, were sequenced and compared with genomes of domesticated horses and the wild Przewalski’s horse. The ancient population contributed significantly to the genetic variation of domesticated breeds. Domestication was also associated with positive selection for genes involved in muscular and limb development, articular junctions, the cardiac system and cognitive functions including social behaviour and learning.

Schubert M, Jónsson H, Chang D, Der Sarkissian C, Ermini L, Ginolhac A, Albrechtsen A, Dupanloup I, Foucal A, Petersen B, Fumagalli M, Raghavan M, Seguin-Orlando A, Korneliussen TS, Velazquez AMV, Stenderup J, Hoover CA, Rubin C, Alfarhan AH, Alquraishi SA, Al-Rasheid KAS, MacHugh DE, Kalbfleisch T, MacLeod JN, Rubin EM, Sicheritz-Ponten T, Andersson L, Hofreiter M, Marques-Bonet T, Gilbert MTP, Nielsen R, Excoffier L, Willerslev E, Shapiro B, Orlando L. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2014 Dec 30;111(52):E5661-9.