Maria Adina Manea

Phylogenetic relationships of the Hucul horse from Romania inferred from mitochondrial D-loop variation.

The existence of the Hucul horse on Romanian territory has been documented from the very distant past; today Hucul is a unique breed that is part of the FAO Program for the Preservation of Animal Genetic Resources. We compared Hucul with several primitive European and Asiatic breeds in order to elucidate the origin of these horses. We analyzed a 683-bp mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) D-loop fragment in a population of Hucul horses and compared the polymorphic sites with sequences from other primitive breeds, including Exmoor, Icelandic Pony, Sorraia, Przewalski Horse, Mongolian Wild Horse, Konik, and Shetland Pony, as well as with Arabian, Akhal Teke and Caspian Pony. The sequences were truncated to 247 bp to accommodate short sequence data for the other species. Eighty horses were analyzed; 35 polymorphic sites representing 33 haplotypes were observed. The mean percentage of polymorphic sites was 14.2% for this mtDNA fragment. A neighbor-joining phylogenetic tree was constructed based on Kimura two-parameter distances and the Network 3.111 software was used for phylogenetic analysis. The Hucul horse was classified separately from all other primitive breeds. It is possible that the Hucul horse is not part of the pony class, as it segregated apart from all primitive pony breeds. We found multiple origins in the maternal lineage of domestic horse breeds and demonstrated the uniqueness of the Hucul breed; its origins remain unclear.

Comparative study of leptin and leptin receptor gene expression in different swine breeds

Leptin is an important regulator of appetite, energy metabolism, and reproduction and is mainly synthesized in the adipocytes and then secreted into the bloodstream. The leptin receptor was classified as type I cytokine receptor due to its structural homology with IL-6 receptors and the signaling pathways in which they are both involved. The aim of our study is to comparatively assess the gene expression levels of leptin (lep) and leptin receptor (lepr) in different swine breeds specialized either in meat production (Duroc, Belgian Landrace, Large White, Synthetic Lines LS-345, and LSP-2000) or fat production (Mangalitsa) in order to correlate them with morphological and productivity characteristics. Additionally, lepr pattern of expression was evaluated comparatively between different tissue types in the Mangalitsa breed. Our results revealed high expression of the lep gene in Mangalitsa compared to those of all the other breeds, while for the lepr gene, average/medium levels were registered in Mangalitsa and increased pattern of expression was found in the synthetic lines LS-345 and LSP-2000. Regarding the comparative analysis of lepr gene expression in various tissues in the Mangalitsa breed, elevated levels were found in the liver and kidney, while the lowest expression was identified in the brain and muscles. Our results suggest that the Mangalitsa population exhibits leptin resistance, which might be correlated with atypical morpho-productive characteristics for this breed, such as below-average prolificacy and a strong tendency to accumulate fat.

Phylogenetic Relationships of the Mangalitsa Swine Breed Inferred from Mitochondrial DNA Variation

The Mangalitsa pig, a swine breed belonging to the protected gene fund of original and primitive animal breeds of the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization), has been known to inhabit Romanian territories since the 19th century. The aim of this study was to compare the Mangalitsa breed with several European and Asiatic swine breeds in order to emphasize its uniqueness and to elucidate its origin. For this purpose, we analyzed a 613 bp mitochondrial DNA D-loop fragment and 1140 bp of the cytochrome b gene in a population of Mangalitsa pigs and the polymorphic sites were compared with sequences from GenBank originating from other swine breeds. Taking into account the total of 24 breeds and 5 different Wild Boar populations analyzed, 86 polymorphic sites representing 32 haplotypes were observed, with an average percentage of polymorphic sites of 4.9%. Three Neighbor-Joining phylogenetic trees were constructed based on Kimura 2-parameter distances, using D-loop, cytochrome b and mitochondrial reunited sequences. For the analyzed Mangalitsa population, four distinct haplotypes were identified, including one that was common to other breeds. Our study suggests that the Mangalitsa swine originate from primitive breeds which might be directly derived from the Wild Boar.