Abstract First documented in the 13th Century on the Iberian Peninsula, the Lidia cattle breed has since been the preferred breed for producing bulls for social celebrations known as “bullfighting”, an expression of regional cultural identity in several countries. Specialization of the breed in Mexico began in the late 19th Century when four Mexican families imported a small number of Lidia animals from Spain. Of these original imports, only the lines derived from the Llaguno and González families remain. Different breeding strategies were implemented in the Llaguno family. Antonio Llaguno crossed the recently imported Spanish animals among each other, resulting in what is currently recognized in Mexico as the “Pure” line. Julián Llaguno crossed Creole dams with Spanish sires, creating the line known as “Impure”. In addition, Lidia breed lines such as Domecq, Murube and Santa Coloma were brought to Mexico between 1996 and 1997. The present study objective was to use SNP molecular markers to analyze genomic diversity, population structure, endogamy levels and genetic relationships between Lidia lines in Mexico. Five lines within the Mexican population were studied: Antonio Llaguno, Julián Llaguno, González, Domecq and Santa Coloma. All five lines were found to be genetically distinct, although the Antonio and Julián Llaguno lines are more similar than the others. Genetic isolation between the different lines of the Lidia breed in Mexico has resulted in their being unique.

Resumen La raza bovina de Lidia ha sido seleccionada desde el siglo XIII para participar en festejos sociales reconocidos bajo el término de “Tauromaquia”. En la actualidad forman parte de la identidad de las culturas regionales de varios países. En México, la raza se especializó a finales del siglo XIX cuando cuatro familias mexicanas importaron un número reducido de bovinos de España. De estas importaciones actualmente solo permanecen las líneas derivadas de las familias Llaguno y González. En la familia Llaguno se llevaron diferentes estrategias de reproducción. Antonio Llaguno cruzó los recién importados bovinos españoles entre sí; de dichas cruzas derivó la línea que actualmente es reconocida como “Pura”. Por otro lado, Julián Llaguno realizó cruzas entre hembras criollas con machos españoles, línea conocida como “Impura”. Por último, entre1996 y 1997, un grupo de ganaderos importó bovinos pertenecientes a ciertos encastes españoles como Domecq, Murube, Santa Coloma, entre otros. El objetivo del presente estudio fue investigar la diversidad genómica, estructura poblacional, niveles de endogamia y relaciones genéticas entre las poblaciones de Lidia mexicana, utilizando marcadores moleculares de tipo SNP. La población fue dividida en cinco grupos: Antonio Llaguno, Julián Llaguno, González, y dos grupos que incluían bien importaciones recientes de origen Domecq, o bien importaciones recientes de origen Santa Coloma. Los resultados permiten apreciar diferentes orígenes genéticos dentro de la familia Llaguno en función de su origen histórico: Antonio y Julián. En el resto de grupos también se observa una clara diferenciación genética. Este aislamiento genético entre poblaciones de Lidia mexicana es una característica de su singularidad.

Abstract: Retaining features of the auroch (Bos taurus primigenius), the Lidia bovine is a primitive breed originated ~250 yr ago in the Iberian Peninsula, where is still distributed, along with France and several American countries. Selected upon a behavior, which enhances their aggressiveness; these bovines were raised to participate in popular festivities that nowadays reinforce the identity of regional cultures. Different festivities demanded diverse behavior patterns, prompting a fragmentation of the breed into small lineages. In Mexico, where these bovines reached high popularity, mainly two families of breeders imported Lidia bovines from Spain in the early XX century specializing their production either reproducing the new arrivals among them or realizing systematic crosses with local populations. Genetic diversity and structure of the Mexican and Spanish Lidia populations has been assessed with microsatellite data, but nowadays SNP molecular markers allows higher resolution level. Genetic diversity of the Mexican and Spanish Lidia populations and their relationship were assessed by using 573 SNPs with a low gametic disequilibrium (r2<0.01) from the 50K BeadChip on 468 individuals from both populations. In both populations, similar gene diversity values were observed. Significant F IS values in both populations means strong subdivision, higher F ST genetic distances were observed in the Spanish than in the Mexican population. Genetic structure analysis showed similarity of three Spanish lineages with González family and some Llaguno breeders, but most Llaguno family clustered separated: genetic differentiation along with high gene diversity suggest an introgression of creole cattle in the constitution of the Mexican population.

Resumen: El bovino de Lidia pertenece a una raza primitiva originada ≈250 años en la Península Ibérica, lugar donde aún se distribuye junto con diversos países de América. Seleccionados por un comportamiento que potencia la agresividad, estos bovinos fueron criados para participar en festividades populares que en la actualidad refuerzan la identidad de las culturas regionales. Diferentes festividades han demandado la selección de diferentes comportamientos, desencadenando una fragmentación de la raza en linajes. En México donde este ganado alcanzó gran popularidad, principalmente dos familias de criadores importaron de España bovinos a comienzos del siglo XX, especializando la producción. La diversidad genética y estructura de las poblaciones mexicanas y españolas han sido evaluadas con microsatélites, pero hoy en día los marcadores de tipo SNP permiten una mayor resolución. En este sentido se analizó la diversidad genética de la población mexicana de Lidia y se evaluó su relación con la española utilizando 573 SNPs con bajo desequilibrio de ligamiento (r2<0.01). En ambas poblaciones se observaron similares valores de diversidad genética. Valores significativos de F IS en ambas poblaciones significan una subdivisión de linajes, también se observaron mayores distancias genéticas F ST en la población española que en la mexicana. El análisis de estructura genética mostró similitud de tres linajes españoles con la familia González y algunos criadores de la familia Llaguno; pero la mayor parte de la familia Llaguno se agrupó separada: esta diferenciación así como la alta diversidad genética sugieren una introgresión de ganado criollo en la constitución de la población mexicana.

In order to understand the genetic ancestry and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) diversity of current Colombian horse breeds we sequenced a 364-bp fragment of the mitocondrial DNA D-loop in 116 animals belonging to five Spanish horse breeds and the Colombian Paso Fino and Colombian Creole cattle horse breeds. Among Colombian horse breeds, haplogroup D had the highest frequency (53%), followed by haplogroups A (19%), C (8%) and F (6%). The higher frequency of haplogroup D in Colombian horse breeds supports the theory of an ancestral Iberian origin for these breeds. These results also indicate that different selective pressures among the Colombian breeds could explain the relatively higher genetic diversity found in the Colombian Creole cattle horse when compared with the Colombian Paso Fino.

The resistance/susceptibility of selected cattle breeds to brucellosis was evaluated in an F1 population generated by crossing animals classified as resistant (R) and susceptible (S) (R x R, R x S, S x R, S x S) based on challenges in vitro and in vivo. The association between single nucleotide polymorphisms identified in the coding region of the Slc11a1 gene and resistance/susceptibility was estimated. The trait resistance or susceptibility to brucellosis, evaluated by a challenge in vitro, showed a high heritable component in terms of additive genetic variance (h² = 0.54 ± 0.11). In addition, there was a significant association (p < 0.05) between the control of bacterial survival and two polymorphisms (a 3'UTR and SNP4 located in exon 10). The antibody response of animals classified as resistant to infection by Brucella abortus differed significantly (p < 0.05) from that of susceptible animals. However, there was no significant association between single nucleotide polymorphisms located in the Slc11a1 gene and the antibody response stimulated by a challenge in vivo.