Genomic analyses of Asiatic Mouflon in Iran provide insights into the domestication and evolution of sheep

Wang, Dong-Feng, Orozco Ter Wengel, Pablo ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7951-4148, Salehian-Dehkordi, Hosein, Esmailizadeh, Ali and Lv, Feng-Hua 2025. Genomic analyses of Asiatic Mouflon in Iran provide insights into the domestication and evolution of sheep. Genetics Selection Evolution 57 (1) , 31. 10.1186/s12711-025-00978-y

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Abstract

Background: Asiatic mouflon (Ovis gmelini) consists of several subspecies mainly distributed in Armenia, southern Azerbaijan, Cyprus, northern, southern, and western regions of Iran, and eastern and central regions of Turkey nowadays. Genome analyses of Asiatic mouflon in Iran revealed that they could have diverged from the direct ancestor of domestic sheep, and showed genetic introgression into domestic sheep after domestication. However, the impact of the Asiatic mouflon subspecies in Iran on sheep domestication remains unclear. Results: Here, we conducted a comprehensive population genomics analysis of Asiatic mouflon in Iran with 788 whole-genome sequences (including 40 from Asiatic mouflon), 1104 whole mitogenomes (105 from Asiatic mouflon), and 239 Y chromosomes (21 from Asiatic mouflon). Whole-genome sequence analyses revealed two subpopulations of Asiatic mouflon in Iran: O. gmelini_2 limited on Kaboodan Island in Urmia Lake National Park and O. gmelini_1 over a wide geographic area. Phylogenetic analyses of Asiatic mouflon in Iran based on uniparental variants revealed a monophyletic lineage with the mitochondrial haplogroups C/E, and clustered into a monophyletic with Y-chromosomal lineage HY2 of sheep. Additionally, introgression tests detected significant signals of genetic introgression from O. gmelini_2 to four sheep populations (e.g., Garut, Bangladeshi, Nellore, and Sumatra) in South and Southeast Asia. In the four sheep populations, selective tests and introgression signals revealed that the wild introgression could have contributed to their body size, fat metabolism and local adaptation to the hot and humid environments in the Indian Peninsula. Conclusions: Our results clarified subpopulation structure of Asiatic mouflon in Iran, identifying two distinct groups: O. gmelini_1 and O. gmelini_2. Additionally, we suggest a potential genetic contribution to domestic sheep by introgression, with maternal haplogroup C and paternal lineage HY2 likely originating from the Asiatic mouflon populations in Iran. Our findings offer new insights into domestication of sheep and subsequent introgressions events from wild relatives to domestic populations.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Published Online
Status:	Published
Schools:	Schools > Biosciences
Additional Information:	License information from Publisher: LICENSE 1: URL: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, Type: open-access
Publisher:	BioMed Central
ISSN:	0999-193X
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	18 June 2025
Date of Acceptance:	26 May 2025
Last Modified:	18 Jun 2025 09:46
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/179147

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