The genetic origin and history of speed in the Thoroughbred racehorse

Mim A. Bower, Beatrice A. McGivney, Michael G. Campana, Jingjing Gu, Lisa S. Andersson, Elizabeth Barrett, Catherine R. Davis, Sofia Mikko, Frauke Stock, Valery Voronkova, Daniel G. Bradley, Alan G. Fahey, Gabriella Lindgren, David E. MacHugh, Galina Sulimova and Emmeline W. Hill ()
Additional contact information
Mim A. Bower: McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge
Beatrice A. McGivney: Equinome Ltd, NovaUCD, Belfield Innovation Park
Michael G. Campana: McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge
Jingjing Gu: Equinome Ltd, NovaUCD, Belfield Innovation Park
Lisa S. Andersson: Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, PO Box 597, Uppsala SE-751 24, Sweden.
Elizabeth Barrett: McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge
Catherine R. Davis: Equinome Ltd, NovaUCD, Belfield Innovation Park
Sofia Mikko: Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, PO Box 597, Uppsala SE-751 24, Sweden.
Frauke Stock: Smurfit Institute of Genetics
Valery Voronkova: Vavilov Institute of General Genetics, Russian Academy of Sciences
Daniel G. Bradley: Smurfit Institute of Genetics
Alan G. Fahey: Animal Genomics Laboratory, School of Agriculture and Food Science, University College Dublin
Gabriella Lindgren: Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, PO Box 597, Uppsala SE-751 24, Sweden.
David E. MacHugh: Equinome Ltd, NovaUCD, Belfield Innovation Park
Galina Sulimova: Vavilov Institute of General Genetics, Russian Academy of Sciences
Emmeline W. Hill: Equinome Ltd, NovaUCD, Belfield Innovation Park

Nature Communications, 2012, vol. 3, issue 1, 1-8

Abstract: Abstract 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).

Date: 2012
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms1644

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