Whole-genome sequencing of 128 camels across Asia reveals origin and migration of domestic Bactrian camels

The domestic Bactrian camels were treated as one of the principal means of locomotion between the eastern and western cultures in history. However, whether they originated from East Asia or Central Asia remains elusive. To address this question, we performed whole-genome sequencing of 128 camels across Asia. The extant wild and domestic Bactrian camels showed remarkable genetic divergence since they were split from dromedaries. The wild Bactrian camels also contributed little to the ancestry of domestic ones though they share close habitat in East Asia. Interestingly, among the domestic Bactrian camels, those from Iran exhibited the largest genetic distance and the earliest split from all others in the phylogeny, in spite of evident admixture between domestic Bactrian camels and dromedaries living in Central Asia. Taken together, our study supported the Central Asian origin of domestic Bactrian camels, which were then immigrated eastward to Mongolia where native wild Bactrian camels inh...

历史上，家养双峰驼（domestic Bactrian camels）曾是东西方文化之间主要的陆路交通手段之一。然而，其起源究竟是东亚还是中亚，至今仍未有明确定论。为解答这一科学问题，我们对横跨亚洲的128峰骆驼开展了全基因组测序（whole-genome sequencing）。现存野生双峰驼与家养双峰驼在与单峰驼（dromedaries）分化后，二者间呈现出显著的遗传分歧。尽管野生双峰驼与家养双峰驼在东亚拥有相近的栖息环境，但野生双峰驼对家养双峰驼的血统贡献微乎其微。有趣的是，在家养双峰驼类群中，来自伊朗的个体展现出最大的遗传距离，且在系统发育树（phylogeny）中最早与其他所有类群分化；尽管中亚地区的家养双峰驼与单峰驼之间存在显著的基因混合（admixture）。综上，本研究支持家养双峰驼起源于中亚，随后向东迁徙至栖息有原生野生双峰驼的蒙古地区……