近期一項(xiàng)發(fā)表于《自然》雜志網(wǎng)絡(luò)版的最新遺傳分析表明，從法國(guó)的獅子狗到德國(guó)的牧羊犬,，所有的家狗都起源于中東,，而非之前研究所認(rèn)為的東亞。
相關(guān)鏈接：BMC Biology：狗起源于中東
研究所指的中東地區(qū)也就是俗稱的“新月沃土”,，包括中東兩河流域及附近一連串肥沃的土地,，位于今日的以色列,、黎巴嫩、約旦部分地區(qū)以及伊拉克和土耳其的東南部,、埃及東北部,。研究小組負(fù)責(zé)人、美國(guó)加州大學(xué)洛杉磯分校的進(jìn)化生物學(xué)家羅伯特·韋恩表示,，家貓和很多其它的家畜也都起源于此,，農(nóng)業(yè)也是最先從這里發(fā)展起來(lái)的。
狗的起源一直是進(jìn)化生物學(xué)上的熱點(diǎn)問(wèn)題,?？茖W(xué)家認(rèn)為它們是由灰狼馴化而來(lái)的，但對(duì)于起源地在哪里卻各執(zhí)一詞,。研究人員對(duì)來(lái)自于北美,、歐洲、東亞和中東的900只狗（代表85個(gè)品種）以及200多只野生灰狼的基因進(jìn)行了比較,，得出了上述結(jié)論,。
這是迄今為止對(duì)狗和灰狼進(jìn)行的涵蓋范圍最廣的遺傳分析，科學(xué)家們使用了分子遺傳技術(shù),，分析了所有實(shí)驗(yàn)動(dòng)物的DNA中的4.8萬(wàn)多個(gè)遺傳標(biāo)記,。他們發(fā)現(xiàn)，絕大多數(shù)狗都同來(lái)自于中東的灰狼（與其他地方的灰狼相比）共享了很多獨(dú)特的遺傳標(biāo)記,。他們也發(fā)現(xiàn),，狗同歐洲灰狼之間也有親屬關(guān)系，但是,，關(guān)系并不密切,。另外，有少部分東亞狗和中國(guó)灰狼之間也有遺傳關(guān)系,。
研究人員表示,，第一只中東狗可能出現(xiàn)在1.2萬(wàn)年前到1.3萬(wàn)年前之間。第一個(gè)將野狼馴化成狗的人可能是游牧民族的獵人,。在幾千年的發(fā)展中，狗與人住得越來(lái)越近,，并開(kāi)始為人類(lèi)提供保護(hù),，甚至幫助人們狩獵，最終成為人類(lèi)的密友,。
新的研究反駁了之前認(rèn)為的所有的狗都源于東亞和中國(guó)的狼的結(jié)論,。此前的研究基于對(duì)來(lái)自實(shí)驗(yàn)動(dòng)物線粒體的單個(gè)小DNA序列的比較，而非對(duì)整個(gè)基因組的分子標(biāo)記進(jìn)行比較,。韋恩認(rèn)為,，此次研究涵蓋的狗和灰狼的品種更多,，分析也更為全面。（生物谷Bioon.com）
更多閱讀
高燒的GWAS——生物谷盤(pán)點(diǎn)2009
MBE：狗的祖先是中國(guó)馴狼
PNAS：建立全球幼犬祖先基因圖 揭示家狗的起源
生物谷推薦原文出處：
Nature doi:10.1038/nature08837
Genome-wide SNP and haplotype analyses reveal a rich history underlying dog domestication
Bridgett M. vonHoldt1, John P. Pollinger1, Kirk E. Lohmueller2, Eunjung Han3, Heidi G. Parker4, Pascale Quignon4, Jeremiah D. Degenhardt2, Adam R. Boyko2, Dent A. Earl5, Adam Auton2, Andy Reynolds2, Kasia Bryc2, Abra Brisbin2, James C. Knowles1, Dana S. Mosher4, Tyrone C. Spady4, Abdel Elkahloun4, Eli Geffen6, Malgorzata Pilot7, Wlodzimierz Jedrzejewski8, Claudia Greco9, Ettore Randi9, Danika Bannasch10, Alan Wilton11, Jeremy Shearman11, Marco Musiani12, Michelle Cargill13, Paul G. Jones14, Zuwei Qian15, Wei Huang15, Zhao-Li Ding16, Ya-ping Zhang17, Carlos D. Bustamante2, Elaine A. Ostrander4, John Novembre1,18 & Robert K. Wayne1
Advances in genome technology have facilitated a new understanding of the historical and genetic processes crucial to rapid phenotypic evolution under domestication1, 2. To understand the process of dog diversification better, we conducted an extensive genome-wide survey of more than 48,000 single nucleotide polymorphisms in dogs and their wild progenitor, the grey wolf. Here we show that dog breeds share a higher proportion of multi-locus haplotypes unique to grey wolves from the Middle East, indicating that they are a dominant source of genetic diversity for dogs rather than wolves from east Asia, as suggested by mitochondrial DNA sequence data3. Furthermore, we find a surprising correspondence between genetic and phenotypic/functional breed groupings but there are exceptions that suggest phenotypic diversification depended in part on the repeated crossing of individuals with novel phenotypes. Our results show that Middle Eastern wolves were a critical source of genome diversity, although interbreeding with local wolf populations clearly occurred elsewhere in the early history of specific lineages. More recently, the evolution of modern dog breeds seems to have been an iterative process that drew on a limited genetic toolkit to create remarkable phenotypic diversity.
