Selection at the GSDMC locus in horses and its implications for human mobility

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Liu, Xuexue; Jia, Yaozhen; Pan, Jianfei; Zhang, Yanli; Gong, Ying; Wang, Xintong; Ma, Yuehui; Alvarez, Nadir; Jiang, Lin; Orlando, Ludovic
• 署名单位: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS); Universite de Toulouse; Universite Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier; Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences; University of Geneva; University of Lausanne
• 刊物名称: SCIENCE
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0036-9502
• DOI: 10.1126/science.adp4581
• 发表日期: 2025-08-28
• 页码: 925-930
• 关键词: coat color variation; withers height; gene; foundation; reveal; genome

摘要

Horsepower revolutionized human history through enhanced mobility, transport, and warfare. However, the suite of biological traits that reshaped horses during domestication remains unclear. We scanned an extensive horse genome time series for selection signatures at 266 markers associated with key traits. We detected a signature of positive selection at ZFPM1-known to be a modulator of behavior in mice-occurring similar to 5000 years ago (ya), suggesting that taming was one of the earliest steps toward domestication of horses. Intensive selection at GSDMC began similar to 4750 ya with the domestication bottleneck, leading regulatory variants to high frequency by similar to 4150 ya. GSDMC genotypes are linked to body conformation in horses and to spinal anatomy, motor coordination, and muscular strength in mice. Our results suggest that selection on standing variation at GSDMC was crucial for the emergence of horses that could facilitate fast mobility in human societies similar to 4200 ya.