Executive Agency for Selection and Reproduction in Animal Breeding, Sofia, Bulgaria.
Scientific Center of Agriculture, Agricultural Academy, Sredets, Bulgaria.
Anim Biotechnol. 2023 Dec;34(8):3897-3907. doi: 10.1080/10495398.2023.2237533. Epub 2023 Jul 25.
From a historical perspective, horse breeding in Bulgaria has been very well developed since the time of the Thracians (early Bronze Age c. 3000 BCE). Archaeological discoveries from this era present us with an extremely rich type diversity, including wild and local primitive horses, the prototype of heavy draft horses, and fine riding horses.The objective of this study was to investigate the genetic structure of unexamined populations of three closely related horse breeds - the Danubian Nonius Hungarian Nonius and Serbian Nonius horses. A 608 bp long fragment of the mtDNA D-loop region was amplified and sequenced. The obtained results showed completely different genetic profiles between the investigated breeds. We identified nine of the 17 haplogroups described in modern horses. Most of the obtained sequences fell into M, L, G, and O'P lineages, which reflects the genetic profiles of the ancestral mares that were probably used at the initial stages of formation of the breeds. The population of the Danubian horse was characterized by a high prevalence of Central Asian specific haplogroup G (45%), followed by Western Eurasian specific haplogroups L and M (both about 21%). In contrast to the Danubian horse, in the Nonius breed the highest frequency of Western Eurasian haplogroup M (43.5%) was found, followed by Middle Eastern haplogroups O'P (26.1%) Central Asian specific E (13.0%) and G (13.1%). The Serbian Nonius horse showed a completely different genetic profile with a prevalence of the rare for Europe haplogroup D (66.7%), followed by Central Asian specific G (16.7%). The high mitochondrial haplotype diversity (Hd = 0.886) found in the investigated samples is evidence for multiple maternal origins in all populations.In conclusion, the obtained results demonstrated a high percentage of haplogroup sharing especially in the Danubian and Hungarian Nonius horse breeds, which reflects the possible common origins of the two breeds. In contrast to these breeds, the Serbian Nonius, despite the small number of investigated animals, showed a specific genetic profile, which could be explained by different and independent origins.
从历史上看，保加利亚的马种培育在色雷斯人（公元前 3000 年左右的青铜时代早期）时期就已经非常发达。这一时期的考古发现呈现出极其丰富的类型多样性，包括野生和本地原始马、重型挽马的原型以及优良的骑乘马。本研究的目的是调查三个密切相关的马品种——多瑙河尼欧马、匈牙利尼欧马和塞尔维亚尼欧马未被研究的群体的遗传结构。扩增并测序了 mtDNA D-环区 608bp 长的片段。获得的结果表明，被调查的品种之间存在完全不同的遗传特征。我们在现代马中鉴定出了 17 个单倍群中的 9 个。获得的大部分序列属于 M、L、G 和 O'P 谱系，这反映了在品种形成的初始阶段可能使用的祖先母马的遗传特征。多瑙河马种群的特点是中亚特异性单倍群 G 的高流行率（45%），其次是西欧亚特异性单倍群 L 和 M（均约 21%）。与多瑙河马相反，在尼欧马品种中，发现西欧亚特异性单倍群 M 的最高频率（43.5%），其次是中东特异性单倍群 O'P（26.1%）、中亚特异性 E（13.0%）和 G（13.1%）。塞尔维亚尼欧马表现出完全不同的遗传特征，罕见的欧洲单倍群 D（66.7%）的流行率最高，其次是中亚特异性 G（16.7%）。在所研究的样本中发现的高线粒体单倍型多样性（Hd=0.886）证明了所有群体中存在多种母系起源。总之，获得的结果表明，特别是在多瑙河和匈牙利尼欧马品种中，存在较高的单倍群共享率，这反映了这两个品种可能具有共同的起源。与这些品种相比，尽管调查的动物数量较少，但塞尔维亚尼欧马表现出特定的遗传特征，这可以用不同的和独立的起源来解释。
