Metabolomics shows the Australian dingo has a unique plasma profile

Abstract

Dingoes occupy a wide range of the Australian mainland and play a crucial role as an apex predator with a generalist omnivorous feeding behaviour. Dingoes are ecologically, phenotypically and behaviourally distinct from modern breed dogs and have not undergone artificial selection since their arrival in Australia. In contrast, humans have selected breed dogs for novel and desirable traits. First, we examine whether the distinct evolutionary histories of dingoes and domestic dogs has lead to differences in plasma metabolomes. We study metabolite composition differences between dingoes (n = 15) and two domestic dog breeds (Basenji n = 9 and German Shepherd Dog (GSD) n = 10). Liquid chromatography mass spectrometry, type II and type III ANOVA with post-hoc tests and adjustments for multiple comparisons were used for data evaluation. After accounting for within group variation, 62 significant metabolite differences were detected between dingoes and domestic dogs, with the majority of differences in protein (n = 14) and lipid metabolites (n = 12), mostly lower in dingoes. Most differences were observed between dingoes and domestic dogs and fewest between the domestic dog breeds. Next, we collect a second set of data to investigate variation between pure dingoes (n = 10) and dingo-dog hybrids (n = 10) as hybridisation is common in regional Australia. We detected no significant metabolite differences between dingoes and dingo-dog hybrids after Bonferroni correction. However, power analysis showed that increasing the sample size to 15 could result in differences in uridine 5′-diphosphogalactose (UDPgal) levels related to galactose metabolism. We suggest this may be linked to an increase in Amylase 2B copy number in hybrids. Our study illustrates that the dingo metabolome is significantly different from domestic dog breeds and hybridisation is likely to influence carbohydrate metabolism.

The Australian dingo is an early offshoot of modern breed dogs

“…The dingo genome’s assembly, annotation, and comparative analyses show that it has diverged from domestic dog breeds. This divergence has previously been shown to influence the plasma metabolome ( 26 ), gastric capacity, and the digestion of proteins ( 35 , 36 ), behaviors ( 1 ), and cranial morphology ( 37 ). In the next section, we test whether these differences influence the functions of epigenetic signaling, the circulatory metabolome, and the gut microbiome of dingoes and GSDs.…”

“…Yadav et al . ( 26 ) showed that UDPgal levels were significantly lower in GSD than in dingoes. This is consistent with the observations that the GSD GAL3ST1 promoter has increased methylation and lower transcript abundance.…”

“…GAL3ST1 is a sulfotransferase involved in sulfoglycolipid synthetic pathways that lead to myelination of nervous tissue and spermatogenesis (49). Yadav et al (26) showed that UDPgal levels were significantly lower in GSD than in dingoes. This is consistent with the observations that the GSD GAL3ST1 promoter has increased methylation and lower transcript abundance.…”

“…We selected the GSD breed for the experimental comparison because these dogs are morphologically like the dingo and are common feral canines ( 17 , 24 , 25 ). GSDs have been used in two previous comparative studies with dingoes ( 1 , 26 ) and have been used for behavioral comparisons with wolves ( 27 ) and wolfdogs ( 28 ). Yadav et al ( 26 ) reported 62 significant plasma metabolite differences between dingoes and two domestic dog breeds (GSD and basenji).…”

“…GSDs have been used in two previous comparative studies with dingoes ( 1 , 26 ) and have been used for behavioral comparisons with wolves ( 27 ) and wolfdogs ( 28 ). Yadav et al ( 26 ) reported 62 significant plasma metabolite differences between dingoes and two domestic dog breeds (GSD and basenji). Ballard et al .…”