Genetic Analysis of Mitochondrial DNA from Ancient Equus Caballus Bones Found at Archaeological Site of Joseon Dynasty Period Capital Area

Overview

Journal Anim Biosci

Specialty Veterinary Medicine

Date 2022 Mar 3

PMID 35240033

Authors

Jong Ha Hong

Chang Seok Oh

Sun Kim

In Uk Kang

Dong Hoon Shin

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Objective: To understand the domestication and spread of horses in history, genetic information is essential. However, mitogenetic traits of ancient or medieval horses have yet to be comprehensively revealed, especially for East Asia. This study thus set out to reveal the maternal lineage of skeletal horse remains retrieved from a 15th century archaeological site (Gongpyeongdong) at Old Seoul City in South Korea.

Methods: We extracted DNA from the femur of Equus caballus (SNU-A001) from Joseon period Gongpyeongdong site. Mitochondrial (mt) DNA (HRS 15128-16116) of E. caballus was amplified by polymerase chain reaction. Cloning and sequencing were conducted for the mtDNA amplicons. The sequencing results were analyzed by NCBI/BLAST and phylogenetic tool of MEGA7 software.

Results: By means of mtDNA cytochrome b and D-loop analysis, we found that the 15th century Korean horse belonged to haplogroup Q representing those horses that have historically been raised widely in East Asia.

Conclusion: The horse is unique among domesticated animals for the remarkable impact it has on human civilization in terms of transportation and trade. Utilizing the Joseonperiod horse remains, we can obtain clues to reveal the genetic traits of Korean horse that existed before the introduction of Western horses.

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