Genetic diversity evolution of a sheep breed reintroduced after extinction: Tracing back Christopher Columbus' first imported sheep

New World's hair sheep breeds may genetically stem from West African introgression into established ecotypes of Spanish descent presumably extinct in the XIX Century. However, present Canary non-wooled breeds have presumably regressively resulted from the absorption of primitive individuals thr...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Research in veterinary science Vol. 132; pp. 207 - 216
Main Authors:	Casanovas Arias, David, León Jurado, José Manuel, Bermejo Asensio, Luis Alberto, Navas González, Francisco Javier, Marín Navas, Carmen, Barba Capote, Cecilio José
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	England Elsevier Ltd 01-10-2020 Elsevier Limited
Subjects:	Animal populations Animals Archipelagoes Biological evolution Breeding Canary hair sheep Datasets Ecotypes Evolution Evolution, Molecular Extinction Extinction, Biological Female Founder analysis Genetic diversity Genetic variability Genetic Variation Hair Inbreeding Male Pedigree Population Density Population genetics Population number Reintroduction Sheep Sheep, Domestic - genetics Small population genetics Spain Species extinction Subpopulations Textile industry Trends Veterinary medicine Wool Spain England Venezuela Canary Islands United Kingdom > UK Inbreeding Canary hair sheep Small population genetics Founder analysis Pedigree
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Summary:	New World's hair sheep breeds may genetically stem from West African introgression into established ecotypes of Spanish descent presumably extinct in the XIX Century. However, present Canary non-wooled breeds have presumably regressively resulted from the absorption of primitive individuals through Venezuelan descendants. We studied genetic diversity, structure, and evolution of the Canary hair sheep since its reintroduction in the 1950s. Demographic and genetic variability were evaluated using ENDOG (v4.8). Effective population size based on individual inbreeding rate was around one third higher than when based on individual coancestry rate. Nei's distances and equivalent subpopulations number indicated a highly-structured population. Although genetic diversity loss since the founder generations could be considered small, narrower pedigree bottlenecks could result from intraflock breeding policies and excessive contribution of few ancestors. Long generation intervals could be considered when reducing inbreeding. Wright's fixation statistics indicated slight interflock inbreeding. Pedigree completeness suggested genetic parameters were reliable, hence controlling inbreeding negative effects, could indeed, be crucial preserving these animal resources, consolidating the population in the archipelago after reintroduction. •Canary and Caribbean hair sheep may have described parallel diversity processes.•Breeder actions should focus on genetic relationships awareness of planned matings.•Inbreeding coefficient miscontrol could endanger this islander isolated population.•Long-term farming may favour in situ preservation policies.•Cryopreserved material may counteract drift or bottleneck diversity loss effects.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23
ISSN:	0034-5288 1532-2661
DOI:	10.1016/j.rvsc.2020.06.007