Data from: A genome-wide assessment of genetic diversity and population structure of Korean native cattle breeds

Background: The native cattle breeds are an important genetic resource for
meat and milk production throughout Asia. In Asia cattle were domesticated
around 10,000 years ago and in Korea cattle are being raised since 2000
B.C. There are three native breeds of cattle in Korea viz. Brown Hanwoo,
Brindle Hanwoo and Jeju Black. While one of these breeds, Brown Hanwoo, is
a part of a Food and Agricultural Organization and national genetic
evaluation plans, others get little attention. This study is an effort to
understand and provide a detailed insight into the population structure
and genetic variability of the Korean cattle breeds along with other Asian
breeds using various methods. In this study we report the genetic
variation and structure of the Korean cattle breeds and their comparison
with five other Asian cattle breeds along with a panel of animals from
European taurine, African taurine and indicine cattle breeds. Results:
Asian cattle were found to be least differentiated which reflects their
recent history. Amongst the Asian breeds Hainan, which is an indicine
breed, had the lowest gene diversity while Yanbian had the highest
followed by Mongolian and Korean cattle. Amongst the Korean breeds Brown
Hanwoo had the highest diversity followed by Brindle Hanwoo and Jeju
Black. The genetic diversity in Asian cattle breeds was found comparable
to the European taurines and more than the African taurines and Zebu
cattle. Korean cattle breed, Brown Hanwoo was consistently found to be
closer to Yanbian, a Chinese cattle breed. We found low divergence and
moderate levels of genetic diversity among the native Korean breeds.
Indicine introgression from Hainan was seen in other Asian breeds. From
Europe, Limousin, Holstein and Hereford introgression was found in Asian
breeds. Conclusions: In this study we provide a genome-wide insight into
the genetic history of the native cattle breeds of Korea. The outcomes of
this study will help in prioritization and designing of the conservation
plans.