Genome-Wide Analysis of the World's Sheep Breeds Reveals High Levels of Historic Mixture and Strong Recent Selection

Through their domestication and subsequent selection, sheep have been adapted to thrive in a diverse range of environments. To characterise the genetic consequence of both domestication and selection, we genotyped 49,034 SNP in 2,819 animals from a diverse collection of 74 sheep breeds. We find the majority of sheep populations contain high SNP diversity and have retained an effective population size much higher than most cattle or dog breeds, suggesting domestication occurred from a broad genetic base. Extensive haplotype sharing and generally low divergence time between breeds reveal frequent genetic exchange has occurred during the development of modern breeds. A scan of the genome for selection signals…

• UD
  U.S. Department of Agriculture
• LÍ
  Landbúnaðarháskóli Íslands
• CU
  Cyprus University of Technology
• UH
  Universität Hohenheim
• UO
  University of Cyprus
• UO
  University of Alberta
• CS
  Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation
• MA
  Meat and Livestock Australia
• UC
  University College Dublin
• UO
  University of New England
• AM
  Adnan Menderes Üniversitesi
• IA
  International Atomic Energy Agency
• CA
  Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences
• HÍ
  Háskóli Íslands
• AU
  Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
• IN
  Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique
• UO
  University of Peradeniya
• UD
  Universidad de León
• NC
  National Chemical Laboratory
• IO
  Institute of Genetics