Genetic characterization of four native Italian shepherd dog breeds and analysis of their relationship to cosmopolitan dog breeds using microsatellite markers

Abstract

Very little research into genetic diversity of Italian native dog breeds has been carried out so far. In this study we aimed to estimate and compare the genetic diversity of four native Italian shepherd dog breeds: the Maremma, Bergamasco, Lupino del Gigante and Oropa shepherds. Therefore, some cosmopolitan dog breeds, which have been widely raised in Italy for a long time past, have also been considered to check possible influence of these dog populations on the Italian autochthonous breeds considered here. A total of 212 individuals, belonging to 10 different dog breeds, were sampled and genotyped using 18 autosomal microsatellite loci. We analyzed the genetic diversity of these breeds, within breed diversity, breed relationship and population structure. The 10 breeds considered in this study were clearly genetically differentiated from each other, regardless of current population sizes and the onset of separate breeding history. The level of genetic diversity explained 20% of the total genetic variation. The level of H E found here is in agreement with that found by other studies. The native Italian breeds showed generally higher genetic diversity compared with the long established, well-defined cosmopolitan dog breeds. As the Border Collie seems closer to the Italian breeds than the other cosmopolitan shepherd dogs considered here, a possible utilization of this breed to improve working performance in Italian traditional working shepherd dogs cannot be ignored. The data and information found here can be utilized in the organization of conservation programs planned to reduce inbreeding and to minimize loss of genetic variability.Keywords: genetic diversity, population genetic structure, domestic dog, shepherd dog, canine ImplicationsIn this study we aimed to estimate and compare the genetic diversity of four native Italian shepherd dog breeds and their relationship to cosmopolitan dog breeds reared in Italy. As these Italian autochthonous breeds are involved in sheepand cattle-farming in mountainous regions, they play a role in the economic tissue of marginal and disadvantaged areas, it is important to preserve their breeding. These data and information found here can be utilized in the organization of conservation programs planned to reduce inbreeding and to minimize loss of genetic variability. IntroductionThe dog is probably the most phenotypically diverse vertebrate species, thanks to its long history of domestication. Most of the various pure-breed dogs are morphologically clearly distinct and they also differ in behavior, physical properties and specific inherited diseases. Based on available breed histories, the majority of existing dog breeds were developed in the 19th century. At present, more than 400 canine breeds are registered worldwide by the Federation Cynologique Internationale (FCI, World Canine Organisation) and other federations such as the American and British Kennel Clubs (Parker et al., 2004;Streitberger et al., 2011).To understand the effect of breed structure on the genomic makeup of t...

Genetic variability of the short-haired and rough-haired Segugio Italiano dog breeds and their genetic distance from the other related Segugio breeds

“…The He values were 0.722 for RH and 0.716 for SH. With regard to the results reported for other European dog breeds, our values are similar to those reported by Parra et al (2008) and Bigi et al (2015) but higher than those reported for other breeds raised in Italy (Ciampolini et al 2011) and France (Leroy et al 2009). However, the Ho and He values from our study are lower than those reported by La Manna et al (2015) for the related Italian breeds Segugio Maremmano and Segugio dell' Appennino, where the Ho value was 0.73 for both breeds and the He values were 0.78 and 0.77 for Segugio Maremmano and Segugio dell' Appennino, respectively.…”

Fonni’s dog: morphological and genetic characteristics for a breed standard definition

“…Microsatellites were amplified by PCR using published conditions (Bigi et al 2015) and alleles separated using an ABIPRISM 310 sequencer. Analysis of fragments was conducted with Genescan and Genotyper software's (Nowacka-Zawisza et al 2015;Roth et al 2016).…”

Studies of modern Italian dog populations reveal multiple patterns for domestic breed evolution

“…The largest phylogenetic study reported to date includes 161 dog breeds and over 1,300 dogs, consisting of 23 cladistic groupings based on genetic similarities (Parker et al., ). Smaller studies exist which have addressed population demography in globally recognized breeds sampled from discrete locations with some success (Bigi, Marelli, Randi, & Polli, ; Ceh & Dovc, ; Dreger, Davis, et al., ; Koskinen & Bredbacka, ; Oliehoek, Bijma, & van der Meijden, ; Parra, Mendez, Canon, & Dunner, ; Pertoldi et al., ; Pribanova et al., ; Suarez, Betancor, Fregel, & Pestano, ; Wiener et al., ). While such studies provide insight into the status and genetic health of local populations, they do not necessarily consider the preexisting breed‐specific genomic patterns developed prior to localization or the impact of import and export from the local breeding pool.…”