Mitochondrial sequence variation suggests an African influence in Portuguese cattle

A total of 49 samples from indigenous Portuguese cattle breeds were analyse d for sequence variation in the hypervariable region of the mitochondrial D NA D-loop. Sequence comparison and phylogenetic analyses revealed that hapl otypes fell into two distinct groups. These corresponded with two separate haplotype clusters into which, respectively, all African, or alternatively all sequences of European origin, have previously been shown to fall. Here, the majority of sequences of African type were encountered in three southe rn, as compared to three northern breeds. This pattern of African influence may reflect an intercontinental admixture in the initial origins of Iberia n breeds, or it is perhaps an introgression dating from the long and influe ntial Moorish occupation of the south of the Iberian peninsula.