Archaeogenetic analysis of Neolithic sheep from Anatolia suggests a complex demographic history since domestication
Yurtman, Erinç; Özer, Onur; Yüncü, Eren; Dağtaş, Nihan Dilşad; Koptekin, Dilek; Çakan, Yasin Gökhan; Özkan, Mustafa; Akbaba, Ali; Kaptan, Damla; Atağ, Gözde; Vural, Kıvılcım Başak; Gündem, Can Yümni; Martin, Louise; Kılınç, Gülşah Merve; Ghalichi, Ayshin; Açan, Sinan Can; Yaka, Reyhan; Sağlıcan, Ekin; Lagerholm, Vendela Kempe; Krzewińska, Maja; Günther, Torsten; Morell Miranda, Pedro; Pişkin, Evangelia; Şevketoğlu, Müge; Bilgin, C Can; Atakuman, Çiğdem; Erdal, Yılmaz Selim; Sürer, Elif; Altınışık, N Ezgi; Lenstra, Johannes A; Yorulmaz, Sevgi; Abazari, Mohammad Foad; Hoseinzadeh, Javad; Baird, Douglas; Bıçakçı, Erhan; Çevik, Özlem; Gerritsen, Fokke; Özbal, Rana; Götherström, Anders; Somel, Mehmet; Togan, İnci; Özer, Füsun
(2021) Communications Biology, volume 4, issue 1, pp. 1 - 11
(Article)
Abstract
Sheep were among the first domesticated animals, but their demographic history is little understood. Here we analyzed nuclear polymorphism and mitochondrial data (mtDNA) from ancient central and west Anatolian sheep dating from Epipaleolithic to late Neolithic, comparatively with modern-day breeds and central Asian Neolithic/Bronze Age sheep (OBI). Analyzing ancient nuclear
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data, we found that Anatolian Neolithic sheep (ANS) are genetically closest to present-day European breeds relative to Asian breeds, a conclusion supported by mtDNA haplogroup frequencies. In contrast, OBI showed higher genetic affinity to present-day Asian breeds. These results suggest that the east-west genetic structure observed in present-day breeds had already emerged by 6000 BCE, hinting at multiple sheep domestication episodes or early wild introgression in southwest Asia. Furthermore, we found that ANS are genetically distinct from all modern breeds. Our results suggest that European and Anatolian domestic sheep gene pools have been strongly remolded since the Neolithic.
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Keywords: Medicine (miscellaneous), Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology(all), Agricultural and Biological Sciences(all)
ISSN: 2399-3642
Publisher: Springer Nature
Note: Funding Information: We are grateful to the METU CompEvo group, Daniel Bradley, Arpat Özgül, Cosimo Posth, and three anonymous reviewers for support, helpful suggestions, and/or comments. This work was supported by TÜBİTAK 1001 (Project No: 111T464 and 114Z356) and ERC Consolidator grant “NEOGENE” (Project No.: 772390). Publisher Copyright: © 2021, The Author(s).
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