The analysis of the variability of the uniparentally transmitted genetic systems, as the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and the non-recombining region of Y chromosome (NRY), is considered a useful tool to study evolutionary processes. In the present PhD Thesis both haploid systems were analyzed in different organisms by a phylogenetic and phylogeographic approaches.
In the first part, the variability of mtDNA has been analyzed in domestic Horse. In particular, two
Sardinian native breeds -the Giara and Sarcidano horse- were studied in order to determine their genetic structure and phylogenetic history by a comparison in a global framework. The project regarding the creation of a new informatics tool- HapSign Software- to assign mtDNA haplotypes is also reported with the first results of application in horse breeds. The second part encompasses a
study focused on the mtDNA variation of a Sardinian endemic genus of Carabidae (Coleoptera) of the subterranean fauna, with the aim to establish the phylogenetic relations among species already known and potentially new ones, coming from some Sardinian caves. Finally, some studies about mtDNA and Y chromosome variation in human populations were conducted; the first one concern the high resolution phylogeny of the NRY of Sardinian population by the sequencing of a large portion of Y chromosome. The other studies has been focused on Italian and African populations in order reconstruct their history from a genetic perspective
