Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-vsgnj Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-20T07:35:45.988Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Genetic distance between the Australian Merino and the Poll Dorset Sheep

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 April 2009

Clyde Manwell  and
C. M. Ann Baker
Clyde Manwell
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, University of Adelaide, South Australia, 5001
C. M. Ann Baker
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, University of Adelaide, South Australia, 5001

Summary

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Merinos (189) and Poll Dorsets (106) were compared for genetic variation at 30 loci for blood proteins. ‘Malic enzyme’ and NADH diaphorase I polymorphism occur in Merinos but not in Poll Dorsets, whereas both breeds are polymorphic for haemoglobin, erythrocyte X-protein, serum esterase, catalase and transferrin, although the breeds differ in the presence or absence of certain rare transferrin variants. Poll Dorsets but not Merinos have genetic variation of erythrocyte pyruvate kinase at low gene frequencies; Merinos but not Poll Dorsets have genetic variation of two erythrocyte Gly-Leu peptidases, glucosephosphate isomerase, superoxide dismutase, and NADH diaphorase II, all at low gene frequencies (P < 0·05).

Using Masatoshi Nei's (1972, 1976) standard genetic distance, over all 30 loci, to calculate the time of divergence of the two breeds, we obtained t = 69700 years – whereas sheep are believed to have been domesticated by man for not more than 11000 years, and ancestors of the British breeds and of the Merino have probably not been separated for more than 2000 years. Several possible explanations for this discrepancy are discussed, including the accuracy of the coefficient of codon change (α), changes in population size and structure, selection, and additional hybridization in the ancestry of the Merino.

Type
Research Article
Information
Genetics Research , Volume 29 , Issue 3 , June 1977 , pp. 239 - 253
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1977

References

REFERENCES

Ananthakrishnan, R. (1973). A study of gene differences between some breeds of sheep. Animal Blood Groups and Biochemical Genetics 4, 141–146.Google Scholar
Asensio, Llorente J. (1974). Aportaciones al estudio Historico-Evolutivo de las razas ovinas en España mediante los Polimorfismos Bioquimicos. Doctoral dissertation, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Zaragoza, Spain.Google Scholar
Austin, H. B. (1944). The Merino: Past, Present and Probable. Sydney: Grahame Book Company.Google Scholar
Bailey, N. T. J. (1959). Statistical Methods in Biology, 5th (1969) impression. London: English Universities Press.Google Scholar
Baker, C. M. A. & Manwell, C. (1976 a). Heterozygosity of the sheep: polymorphism of ‘malic enzyme’, isocitrate dehydrogenase, catalase and esterase. Australian Journal of Biological Science (in the Press).Google Scholar
Baker, C. M. A. & Manwell, C. (1976 b). Contributions to the study of animals at the molecular level with particular reference to the domestic fowl. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society (London) B 275, 109–113.Google Scholar
Bökönyi, S. (1976). Development of early stock rearing in the Near East. Nature 264, 19–23.Google Scholar
Brewer, G. J., Eaton, J. W., Knutsen, C. S. & Beck, C. C. (1967). A starch-gel electrophoretic method for the study of diaphorase isozymes and preliminary results with sheep and human erythrocytes. Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications 29, 198–204.Google Scholar
Carson, H. L. (1976). Inference of the time of origin of some Drosophila species. Nature 259, 395–396.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Carter, H. B. (1964). His Majesty's Spanish Flock: Sir Joseph Banks and Merinos of George III of England. Sydney: Angus and Robertson.Google Scholar
Chakraborty, R. & Nei, M. (1977). Bottleneck effects on average heterozygosity and genetic distance with the stepwise mutation model. Evolution (in the Press).Google Scholar
Close, R. L. (1971). Genetical studies of sheep. Honours thesis, Department of Zoology, University of Adelaide, South Australia.Google Scholar
Dolling, C. H. S. (1970). Breeding Merinos. Adelaide: Rigby.Google Scholar
Efremov, G., Vaskov, B. & Hrisoho, R. (1970). Inherited variations in the prealbumins of sheep sera. Proceedings of the XIth European Conference on Animal Blood Groups and Biochemical Polymorphisms,Warsaw,2–6 July 1968, pp. 505–511.Google Scholar
Ewens, W. J. & Feldman, M. W. (1976). The theoretical assessment of selective neutrality. In Population Genetics and Ecology (ed. by Karlin, S. and Nevo, E.), pp. 303–337. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Fésüs, L. & Rasmusen, B. A. (1971). The distribution of transferrin and hemoglobin types in families of Suffolk and Targhee sheep. Animal Blood Groups and Biochemical Genetics 2, 39–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Geist, B. (1971). Mountain Sheep: A Study in Behavior and Evolution. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Hammond, A. L. (1976). Paleoclimate: ice age earth was cool and dry. Science 191, 455.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hope, R. M. (1966). Association between serum alkaline phosphatase variants and the R-O-i blood group system in the Australian Merino. Australian Journal of Biological Science 19, 1171–1174.Google Scholar
Jope, E. M. (1976). The evolution of plants and animals under domestication: the contribution of studies at the molecular level. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society (London) B 275, 99–116.Google ScholarPubMed
Lee, R. M. (1964). Di-(2-chloroethyl)aryl phosphates: a study of their reaction with B-esterases, and of the genetic control of their hydrolysis in sheep. Biochemical Pharmacology 13, 1551–1556.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lewontin, R. C. & Krakauer, J. (1973). Distribution of gene frequency as a test of the theory of the selective neutrality of polymorphisms. Genetics 74, 175–195.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McDermid, E. M., Agar, N. S. & Chai, C. K. (1975). Electrophoretic variation of red cell enzyme systems in farm animals. Animal Blood Groups and Biochemical Genetics 6, 127–174.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Manwell, C. (1977). A simplified electrophoretic system for determining molecular weight of proteins. Biochemical Journal (in the Press).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Manwell, C. & Baker, C. M. A. (1970). Molecular Biology and the Origin of Species. London: Sidgwick and Jackson.Google Scholar
Manwell, C. & Baker, C. M. A. (1974). Molecular genetics of avian proteins. XIII. Protein polymorphism in three species of Australian passerines. Australian Journal of Biological Science 28, 545–557.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Manwell, C. & Baker, C. M. A. (1976). Protein polymorphisms in domesticated species: evidence for hybrid origin? In Population Genetics and Ecology (ed. Karlin, S. and Nevo, E.), pp. 105–140. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Manwell, C. & Baker, C. M. A. (1977). Ammotragus lervia: barbary sheep or barbary goat? Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology (in the Press).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mayo, O., Cooper, D. W., Brady, R. E. & Hooper, C. W. (1970). Response to partial selection on clean fleece weight in South Australian strong-wool Merino sheep. II. Associations between production characters, fertility, and three genetic polymorphisms. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 21, 541–547.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nei, M. (1972). Genetic distance between populations. American Naturalist 106, 283–292.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nei, M. (1975). Molecular Population Genetics and Evolution. Amsterdam: North-Holland.Google Scholar
Nei, M. (1976). Mathematical models of speciation and genetic distance. In Population Genetics and Ecology (ed. Karlin, S. and Nevo, E.), pp. 723–766. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Nei, M. & Roychoudhury, A. K. (1974). Genie variation within and between the three major races of man, Caucasoids, Negroids and Mongoloids. American Journal of Human Genetics 26, 421–443.Google Scholar
Rendel, J. & Stormont, C. (1964). Variants of ovine alkaline serum phosphatases and their association with the R-O blood groups. Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine 115, 853–856.Google Scholar
Robertson, A. (1961). Inbreeding in artificial selection programmes. Genetical Research 2, 189–194.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ryder, M. L. (1964). The history of the sheep breeds in Britain. Agricultural History Review 12, 1–12, 65–82.Google Scholar
Ryder, M. L. (1973). The use of the skin and coat in studies of changes following domestication. In Domestihationsforschung und Geschichte der Haustiere (ed. Matolcsi, J.), pp. 163–168. Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó.Google Scholar
Stratil, A. & Glasnák, V. (1974). Alv – a new allele at the albumin locus in sheep. Animal Blood Groups and Biochemical Genetics 5, 193–194.Google Scholar
Tucker, E. M., Suzuki, Y. & Stormont, C. (1967). Three new phenotypic systems in the blood of sheep. Vox Sanguinis 13, 246–262.Google Scholar
Wright, S. (1931). Evolution in Mendelian populations. Genetics 16, 97–159.Google Scholar
Yamazaki, T. & Maruyama, T. (1974). Evidence that enzyme polymorphisms are selectively neutral, but blood group polymorphisms are not. Science 183, 1091–1092.Google Scholar