help button home button Genetics J Biol Chem
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Originally published as Genetics Published Articles Ahead of Print on October 11, 2005.

Genetics, Vol. 172, 1121-1128, February 2006, Copyright © 2006
doi:10.1534/genetics.105.042358

This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
genetics.105.042358v1
172/2/1121    most recent
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Sundqvist, A.-K.
Right arrow Articles by Vilà, C.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Sundqvist, A.-K.
Right arrow Articles by Vilà, C.

Unequal Contribution of Sexes in the Origin of Dog Breeds

A.-K. Sundqvist*,1, S. Björnerfeldt*, J. A. Leonard*,{dagger}, F. Hailer*, Å. Hedhammar{ddagger}, H. Ellegren* and C. Vilà*

* Department of Evolutionary Biology, Uppsala University, SE-752 36 Uppsala, Sweden, {dagger} Genetics Program, Department of Zoology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20008-0551 and {ddagger} Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, SE-750 07 Uppsala, Sweden

1 Corresponding author: Department of Evolutionary Biology, Uppsala University, Norbyvägen 18 D, SE-752 36 Uppsala, Sweden.
E-mail: anna-karin.sundqvist{at}ebc.uu.se

Dogs (Canis familiaris) were domesticated from the gray wolf (Canis lupus) at least 14,000 years ago, and there is evidence of dogs with phenotypes similar to those in modern breeds 4000 years ago. However, recent genetic analyses have suggested that modern dog breeds have a much more recent origin, probably <200 years ago. To study the origin of contemporaneous breeds we combined the analysis of paternally inherited Y chromosome markers with maternally inherited mitochondrial DNA and biparentally inherited autosomal microsatellite markers in both domestic dogs and their wild ancestor, the gray wolf. Our results show a sex bias in the origin of breeds, with fewer males than females contributing genetically, which clearly differs from the breeding patterns in wild gray wolf populations where both sexes have similar contributions. Furthermore, a comparison of mitochondrial DNA and Y chromosome diversity in dog groups recognized by the World Canine Organization, as well as in groups defined by the breeds' genetic composition, shows that paternal lineages are more differentiated among groups than maternal lineages. This demonstrates a lower exchange of males than of females between breeds belonging to different groups, which illustrates how breed founders may have been chosen.




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 GeneticsHome page
A. Ojeda, J. Rozas, J. M. Folch, and M. Perez-Enciso
Unexpected High Polymorphism at the FABP4 Gene Unveils a Complex History for Pig Populations
Genetics, December 1, 2006; 174(4): 2119 - 2127.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Copyright © 2006 by the Genetics Society of America.