We studied the worldwide differentiation of Y-chromosomal haplotypes of cattle in order to clarify their origin and migrations. Previous studies of Y-chromosomal single-nucleotide polymorphisms (Y-SNPs) have defined five Y-chromosomal haplogroups and 10 sub-haplogroups of global cattle. In this study, we collected genomic data for 560 male cattle from Europe, America, Africa and Asia, including 71 Central Chinese cattle (CCC) of mixed taurindicine ancestry. We identified 1418 Y-SNPs, which defined 11 Y-chromosomal sub-haplogroups. Their geographic distributions indicate two paternal founder effects in Europe and Africa, respectively, whereas two other founder effects occurred relatively recently within China in the CCC (Y2B haplogroup) and the South Chinese indicine (Y3A3 sub-haplogroup). This suggests that the environmental adaptation of Chinese cattle was accompanied by consequential paternal founder effects due to population bottlenecks, which is relevant for the conservation and management of the Chinese cattle breeds.
Yan et al. (Tue,) studied this question.
Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: