New Q lineage found in bovine (Bos taurus) of Iberian Peninsula

Abstract

The northern Iberian Peninsula is home to a variety of autochthonous cattle breeds, such as the Terreña and Pirenaica. With the objective of characterizing the matrilineal lineages of these breeds, a study of mitochondrial DNA was performed. The D-loop of 155 individuals was analyzed and most of the individuals were carriers of the T3 haplogroup, while haplogroups T and T1 were much less frequent. A Pirenaica individual belonging to the Q haplogroup was found. To verify the presence of the Q haplogroup individual, the entire mitochondrial DNA was sequenced and compared with two descendants. The individuals were assigned to the Q1 sub-haplogroup. These findings extend the geographic distribution of the Q haplogroup to the south west of the European continent. This new Q1 lineage has seven polymorphisms in the coding region, so this lineage is probably as old as the Q lineages described to date.

• Bos taurus
• D-loop
• Iberian Peninsula
• mtDNA
• Q haplogroup

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to PhD Maite Alvarez for her technical and human support provided by the DNA Bank Service (SGIker) of the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU). The help provided by ETEFE, UAGA and Abeltzain Associations is very much appreciated.

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper. A. Lopez-Oceja and D. Gamarra thank the Department of Economic Development and Competitiveness of the Government of the Basque Country for their predoctoral fellowships and the IT-833-13 Consolidated Group and UFI11/32 UPV/EHU

Supplementary material available online Supplementary Tables S1 and S2