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Science/Tech See other Science/Tech Articles Title: Housecat's Genes Traced to the Middle East Housecat's Genes Traced to the Middle East Jennifer Viegas, Discovery News Jan. 31, 2008 -- The roots of the domesticated cat's family tree all converge in the Middle East, with many surprising ancestral twists and turns along the way, reveals a new genetic study on house kitties that included purebreds, mutts and even feral felines. The study, one of the most extensive of its kind, used 39 genetic identity markers identified in 11,100 cats. Like branches on a person's family tree, these were used to determine the heritage of today's cats. The DNA evidence adds to earlier archaeological findings and research that suggested the mother of all housecats was Middle Eastern. "This work does support that significant genetic variation is found in cats from the Near East and Turkey, supporting the Fertile Crescent (as the housecats' site of origin)," co-author Leslie Lyons told Discovery News. "We support that cats were likely domesticated from the Near East from wildcats," added Lyons, an associate professor of genetics in the University of California at Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. For the study, Lyons and colleague Monika Lipinski collected cheek cell samples from the 11,100 cats, which represented 17 populations of randomly bred felines, or mutts, from Europe, the Mediterranean, Asia, Africa and the Americas, along with 22 recognized breeds. The cell samples yielded genetic microsatellites, or junk DNA, which are highly variable and whose function remains unknown, but which can serve as genetic markers that link one cat's ancestry to another's. The findings are reported in this month's Genomics journal. Before the Middle Eastern convergence, all of the cats were found to be genetically clustered into four groups that correspond with the regions of Europe, the Mediterranean basin, east Africa and Asia. Since cat breeding was, and still is, more for aesthetic appearance qualities rather than for function, domestic cats remain fairly self-sufficient. This same independence, tied to ancestral DNA coding, also keeps today's cats linked to their four groups of origin, since they haven't yet developed significant genetic differentiation from their earlier ancestors, no matter how apparently distant they may be. For example, breeds that originated in America, such as the Maine Coon and the American Shorthair, are genetically very similar to Western European breeds. Persian cats turn out to not be Persian at all. "We would have expected Persians to be more Mediterranean, perhaps more like the Israeli or Turkish cats," said Lyons, who explained that Persian cats instead "seem more western." Even the Japanese Bobtail traces back to Europe. Siamese, Burmese and Korats, however, all show ancestral connections with southeast Asian cats, while the new African breed, Sokoke, is indeed most like cats from Kenya. Egyptian Mau, Turkish Angora and Turkish Van breeds all hold true to their namesakes, as they possess strong Mediterranean genetic influences. The researchers further determined that as cat breeding continues, genetic diversity in felines can lessen, which increases the likelihood of DNA-linked disorders, such as polycystic kidney disease in Persians and blindness in certain breeds. Elaine Ostrander, head of the comparative genetics section at the National Institutes of Health, conducted a similar genetic study on purebred domestic dogs. She's also concerned about DNA ties to health disorders, but believes these kinds of studies help in the fight against animal disease. In terms of "how modern breeds are related to one another genetically," Ostrander said, "The answer to this question has important implications for trying to identify disease genes, because if we know a subset of breeds that share a common lineage, then we know to group them together when we're working on a particular disease."
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