https://phaidra.vetmeduni.ac.at/o:1711 Y Chromosome Haplotypes Enlighten Origin, Influence, and Breeding History of North African Barb Horses Radovic, Lara Lara Radovic 0000-0003-4621-3856 University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna Wallner, Barbara Barbara Wallner 0000-0003-4159-0695 University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna Butler-Wemken, Ines von Ines von Butler-Wemken Verein der Freunde und Züchter des Berberpferdes e.V. Krischke, Diana Diana Krischke Verein der Freunde und Züchter des Berberpferdes e.V. / University of Kassel Piro, Mohammed Mohammed Piro Agronomic and Veterinary Institute Machmoum, Mohamed Mohamed Machmoum Agronomic and Veterinary Institute Benamar, Malak Malak Benamar Société Royale d´Encouragement Du Cheval Driss, Khadija Khadija Driss Foundation Nationale pour l´Amélioration de la Race Chevaline Rayane, Ahmed Ahmed Rayane Organisation Mondiale Du Cheval Barbe Brem, Gottfried Gottfried Brem 0000-0002-7522-0708 University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna Rigler, Doris Doris Rigler University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna Krcal, Carina Carina Krcal University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna Remer, Viktoria Viktoria Remer University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna MDPI text eng In horses, demographic patterns are complex due to historical migrations and eventful breeding histories. Particularly puzzling is the ancestry of the North African horse, a founding horse breed, shaped by numerous influences throughout history. A genetic marker particularly suitable to investigate the paternal demographic history of populations is the non-recombining male-specific region of the Y chromosome (MSY). Using a recently established horse MSY haplotype (HT) topology and KASP™ genotyping, we illustrate MSY HT spectra of 119 Barb and Arab-Barb males, collected from the Maghreb region and European subpopulations. All detected HTs belonged to the Crown haplogroup, and the broad MSY spectrum reflects the wide variety of influential stallions throughout the breed's history. Distinct HTs and regional disparities were characterized and a remarkable number of early introduced lineages were observed. The data indicate recent refinement with Thoroughbred and Arabian patrilines, while 57% of the dataset supports historical migrations between North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula. In the Barb horse, we detected the HT linked to Godolphin Arabian, one of the Thoroughbred founders. Hence, we shed new light on the question of the ancestry of one Thoroughbred patriline. We show the strength of the horse Y chromosome as a genealogical tool, enlighten recent paternal history of North African horses, and set the foundation for future studies on the breed and the formation of conservation breeding programs. Mitochondrial-Dna, North African horse; Barb; Arab-Barb; Y chromosome; haplotype http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://phaidra.vetmeduni.ac.at/api/object/o:1711/download 10.3390/ani12192579 https://phaidra.vetmeduni.ac.at/o:605 application/pdf Animals 12(19) (2022) Animals 12 19 823.15 kB 2022