MBE Advance Access published online on September 1, 2009
Molecular Biology and Evolution, doi:10.1093/molbev/msp195
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Research Article |
mtDNA Data Indicates a Single Origin for Dogs South of Yangtze River, less than 16,300 Years Ago, from Numerous Wolves
1 State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650223, China
2 Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Bio-resource, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, China
3 Department of Gene Technology, School of Biotechnology, KTH-Royal Institute of Technology, Roslagstullsbacken 21, 10691 Stockholm, Sweden
4 College of Wildlife Resource, Northeast Forestry University, No. 26 Hexing Road, Harbin 150040, China
5 National Institute of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (NIGEB), 14965/161 Tehran, Iran
6 School of Agronomy and Animal Science, University of Tehran, 4111 Karaj, Iran
7 Evolution and Ecology Program, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Schlossplatz 1, 2361 Laxenburg, Austria
8 Department of Fish Biology and Ecology, Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Muggelseedamm 310, 12587 Berlin, Germany
9 Theoretical Biology and Biophysics, MS K710, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87545, USA
* Corresponding authors: Peter Savolainen. Department of Gene Technology, School of Biotechnology, KTH-Royal Institute of Technology, Roslagstullsbacken 21, 10691 Stockholm, Sweden. Tel: +46-8-55378335. Fax: +46-8-55378481. E-mail: savo{at}biotech.kth.se, Ya-Ping Zhang. State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650223, China. Tel: +86-871-5032804. Fax: +86-871-5032804. E-mail: zhangyp{at}mail.kiz.ac.cn
Received for publication April 3, 2009. Revision received August 17, 2009. Accepted for publication August 25, 2009.
There is no generally accepted picture of where, when, and how the domestic dog originated. Previous studies of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) have failed to establish the time and precise place of origin because of lack of phylogenetic resolution in the so far studied control region (CR), and inadequate sampling. We therefore analysed entire mitochondrial genomes for 169 dogs to obtain maximal phylogenetic resolution, and the CR for 1,543 dogs across the Old World for a comprehensive picture of geographical diversity. Hereby, a detailed picture of the origins of the dog can for the first time be suggested. We obtained evidence that the dog has a single origin in time and space, and an estimation of the time of origin, number of founders and approximate region, which also gives potential clues about the human culture involved. The analyses showed that dogs universally share a common homogenous gene pool containing 10 major haplogroups. However, the full range of genetic diversity, all 10 haplogroups, was found only in south-eastern Asia south of Yangtze River, and diversity decreased following a gradient across Eurasia, through 7 haplogroups in Central China, and 5 in North China and Southwest Asia, down to only 4 haplogroups in Europe. The mean sequence distance to ancestral haplotypes indicates an origin 5,400-16,300 years ago from at least 51 female wolf founders. These results indicate that the domestic dog originated in southern China less than 16,300 years ago, from several hundred wolves. The place and time coincide approximately with the origin of rice agriculture, suggesting that the dogs may have originated among sedentary hunter-gatherers or early farmers, and the numerous founders indicate that wolf taming was an important culture trait.
Key Words: dog • Canis familiaris • domestication • mitochondrial DNA
# These authors contributed equally to this work.