On the origin of European sheep as revealed by the diversity of the Balkan breeds and by optimizing population-genetic analysis tools

Background: In the Neolithic, domestic sheep migrated into Europe and subsequently spread in westerly and northwesterly directions. Reconstruction of these migrations and subsequent genetic events requires a more detailed characterization of the current phylogeographic differentiation. Results: We collected 50 K single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) profiles of Balkan sheep that are currently found near the major Neolithic point of entry into Europe, and combined these data with published genotypes from southwest-Asian, Mediterranean, central-European and north-European sheep and from Asian and European mouflons. We detected clines, ancestral components and admixture by using variants of common analysis tools: geography-informative supervised principal component analysis (PCA), breed-specific admixture analysis, across-breed f 4 profiles and phylogenetic analysis of regional pools of breeds. The regional Balkan sheep populations exhibit considerable genetic overlap, but are clearly distinct from the breeds in surrounding regions. The Asian mouflon did not influence the differentiation of the European domestic sheep and is only distantly related to present-day sheep, including those from Iran where the mouflons were sampled. We demonstrate the occurrence, from southeast to northwest Europe, of a continuously increasing ancestral component of up to 20% contributed by the European mouflon, which is assumed to descend from the original Neolithic domesticates. The overall patterns indicate that the Balkan region and Italy served as post-domestication migration hubs, from which wool sheep reached Spain and north Italy with subsequent migrations northwards. The documented dispersal of Tarentine wool sheep during the Roman period may have been part of this process. Our results also reproduce the documented 18th century admixture of Spanish Merino sheep into several central-European breeds. Conclusions: Our results contribute to a better understanding of the events that have created the present diversity pattern, which is relevant for the management of the genetic resources represented by the European sheep population

Genomic Diversity Analyses of Some Indigenous Montenegrin Sheep Populations

Montenegro has a great diversity of indigenous and locally developed sheep breeds, adapted to different regions and climates. However, the current trend of the steady decline in sheep populations means that some of them are threatened with extinction. The aim of this study was the investigation of the genetic diversity and population structure of five Montenegrin sheep populations, using the OvineSNP50K BeadChip. Data from the studied sheep were supplemented with publicly available genotypes of worldwide breeds to determine admixture contributions and genetic relationships. Higher genetic diversity and low inbreeding were observed in Pivska Pramenka and Sjenicka sheep, with Ho = 0.411, He = 0.423, and FROH>2Mb = 0.056 and Ho = 0.421, He = 0.421, and FROH>2Mb = 0.041, respectively. Zetska Zuja had much lower FIS (0.001) and high FROH inbreeding (0.090), indicating a small population size and genetic drift. An analysis of the genetic population structure showed that Montenegrin sheep populations are genetically distinct populations. This analysis revealed the presence of admixture in most sheep populations (high heterogeneity), while genetic purity was observed in Zetska Zuja. The obtained results will help in the conservation management of endangered Montenegrin sheep populations

Agriculture in the Western Balkan Countries

The current publication covers Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo under UNSCR 1244/99, the FYR Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia, and provides an overview of the agricultural situation in the European Union (EU) candidate and potential candidate countries of the Western Balkans (WBs). The objective was to provide an analysis of the development and current situation in agriculture and agricultural policy in these countries as relates to the EU accession process. The individual country reports, as well as a cross-country overview and comparison, have been prepared as a part of "AgriPolicy" project, which was financially supported by the European Commission under the 7th framework program

European permanent grasslands mainly threatened by abandonment, heat and drought, and conversion to temporary grassland

Permanent grassland (PG) covers 35% of the agricultural area in the EU-28. Across Europe, PG exists in many contrasting managed or unmanaged environments where it contributes to feed supply, biodiversity, carbon sequestration, aesthetic value, recreation, clean water and prevention of soil loss. The delivery of these PG ecosystem services is under threat by land use change, climate change and sub-optimal management. We carried out a survey among experts to assess the threats within their countries. Respondents described the main PG-types, together with their areas, and assessed to what extent a particular PG-type is threatened by intensification, land use change, climate change or nitrogen (N) depositions. Threats were scored on a three-point scale: no, small or great. Replies were received from 11 countries (CH, CZ, DE, ES, HU, IT, ME, NL, PL, SE, UK), representing the main biogeographic zones in Europe. The dataset contained 83 PG- types on a total area of 25 Mha. Abandonment, heat and drought stress and conversion to temporary grassland were considered as the largest threats, each considered as a great threat on PG-types covering 8 to 9 Mha (~35%). The second largest group comprised N depositions, conversion to arable land and intensification, each as a great threat on PG-types covering 4 to 5 Mha (~20%)