Verginelli Fabio, Capelli Cristian, Coia Valentina, Musiani Marco, Falchetti Mario, Ottini Laura, Palmirotta Raffaele, Tagliacozzo Antonio, De Grossi Mazzorin Iacopo, Mariani-Costantini Renato
Department of Oncology and Neurosciences, University G. d'Annunzio, Chieti, Italy.
Mol Biol Evol. 2005 Dec;22(12):2541-51. doi: 10.1093/molbev/msi248. Epub 2005 Aug 24.
The question of the origins of the dog has been much debated. The dog is descended from the wolf that at the end of the last glaciation (the archaeologically hypothesized period of dog domestication) was one of the most widespread among Holarctic mammals. Scenarios provided by genetic studies range from multiple dog-founding events to a single origin in East Asia. The earliest fossil dogs, dated approximately 17-12,000 radiocarbon ((14)C) years ago (YA), were found in Europe and in the Middle East. Ancient DNA (a-DNA) evidence could contribute to the identification of dog-founder wolf populations. To gain insight into the relationships between ancient European wolves and dogs we analyzed a 262-bp mitochondrial DNA control region fragment retrieved from five prehistoric Italian canids ranging in age from approximately 15,000 to approximately 3,000 (14)C YA. These canids were compared to a worldwide sample of 547 purebred dogs and 341 wolves. The ancient sequences were highly diverse and joined the three major clades of extant dog sequences. Phylogenetic investigations highlighted relationships between the ancient sequences and geographically widespread extant dog matrilines and between the ancient sequences and extant wolf matrilines of mainly East European origin. The results provide a-DNA support for the involvement of European wolves in the origins of the three major dog clades. Genetic data also suggest multiple independent domestication events. East European wolves may still reflect the genetic variation of ancient dog-founder populations.
狗的起源问题一直备受争议。狗是由狼进化而来的，在最后一次冰川期末期（考古学上假设的狗驯化时期），狼是全北区哺乳动物中分布最广的物种之一。基因研究提出的假设从多次狗起源事件到起源于东亚的单一事件不等。最早的化石狗可追溯到约17000 - 12000放射性碳（14C）年前，在欧洲和中东被发现。古代DNA（a-DNA）证据有助于确定狗起源时的狼种群。为了深入了解古代欧洲狼与狗之间的关系，我们分析了从五只史前意大利犬科动物中提取的一段262个碱基对的线粒体DNA控制区片段，这些动物的年代约为15000至3000（14C）年前。将这些犬科动物与来自全球的547只纯种狗和341只狼的样本进行了比较。古代序列具有高度多样性，并加入了现存狗序列的三个主要分支。系统发育研究突出了古代序列与地理上广泛分布的现存狗母系之间以及古代序列与主要起源于东欧的现存狼母系之间的关系。研究结果为欧洲狼参与三大狗分支的起源提供了a-DNA支持。遗传数据还表明存在多次独立的驯化事件。东欧狼可能仍反映了古代狗起源种群的遗传变异。
