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The genetic origin and history of speed in the Thoroughbred racehorse

2012; Nature Portfolio; Volume: 3; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1038/ncomms1644

2041-1723

Mim A. Bower, Beatrice A. McGivney, Michael G. Campana, Jingjing Gu, Lisa Andersson, E M Barrett, Catherine R. Davis, Sofia Mikko, Frauke Stock, В. Н. Воронкова, Daniel G. Bradley, Alan G. Fahey, Gabriella Lindgren, David E. MacHugh, Г. Е. Сулимова, Emmeline W. Hill,

Genetic Mapping and Diversity in Plants and Animals

Selective breeding for speed in the racehorse has resulted in an unusually high frequency of the C-variant (g.66493737C/T) at the myostatin gene (MSTN) in cohorts of the Thoroughbred horse population that are best suited to sprint racing. Here we show using a combination of molecular- and pedigree-based approaches in 593 horses from 22 Eurasian and North-American horse populations, museum specimens from 12 historically important Thoroughbred stallions (b.1764-1930), 330 elite-performing modern Thoroughbreds and 42 samples from three other equid species that the T-allele was ancestral and there was a single introduction of the C-allele at the foundation stages of the Thoroughbred from a British-native mare. Furthermore, we show that although the C-allele was rare among the celebrated racehorses of the 18th and 19th centuries, it has proliferated recently in the population via the stallion Nearctic (b.1954), the sire of the most influential stallion of modern time, Northern Dancer (b.1961).