The Genetics of How Dogs Became Our Social Allies

Jensen, Per; Persson, Mia; Wright, I. A.; Johnsson, Martin; Sundman, Ann-Sofie; Roth, Lina S. V.

doi:10.1177/0963721416657050

Cited by 10 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…Oxytocin receptor genes have also been investigated in other domestic species; for example, in cats researchers found that the G738A OXTR SNP was associated with the personality trait “Roughness” (irritable, dominant, forceful, and moody behavior), as reported by owner questionnaire (Arahori et al, 2016 ). However, oxytocin has received the most extensive interest in how it may modulate dogs' behavior toward humans (Buttner, 2016 ; Jensen et al, 2016 ; Thielke and Udell, 2017 ). For example, intranasal administration of oxytocin was found to enhance motivation to approach and affiliate with owners (Romero et al, 2014 ), and increase looking back at human partners in a situation involving threatening behavior signals by a human (Hernádi et al, 2015 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Oxytocin and Opioid Receptor Gene Polymorphisms Associated with Greeting Behavior in Dogs

et al. 2017

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Meeting humans is an everyday experience for most companion dogs, and their behavior in these situations and its genetic background is of major interest. Previous research in our laboratory reported that in German shepherd dogs the lack of G allele, and in Border collies the lack of A allele, of the oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR) 19208A/G single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) was linked to increased friendliness, which suggests that although broad traits are affected by genetic variability, the specific links between alleles and behavioral variables might be breed-specific. In the current study, we found that Siberian huskies with the A allele approached a friendly unfamiliar woman less frequently in a greeting test, which indicates that certain polymorphisms are related to human directed behavior, but that the relationship patterns between polymorphisms and behavioral phenotypes differ between populations. This finding was further supported by our next investigation. According to primate studies, endogenous opioid peptide (e.g., endorphins) receptor genes have also been implicated in social relationships. Therefore, we examined the rs21912990 of the OPRM1 gene. Firstly, we found that the allele frequencies of Siberian huskies and gray wolves were similar, but differed from that of Border collies and German shepherd dogs, which might reflect their genetic relationship. Secondly, we detected significant associations between the OPRM1 SNP and greeting behavior among German shepherd dogs and a trend in Border collies, but we could not detect an association in Siberian huskies. Although our results with OXTR and OPRM1 gene variants should be regarded as preliminary due to the relatively low sample size, they suggest that (1) OXTR and OPRM1 gene variants in dogs affect human-directed social behavior and (2) their effects differ between breeds.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Oxytocin and Opioid Receptor Gene Polymorphisms Associated with Greeting Behavior in Dogs

et al. 2017

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“…During the course of domestication, dogs seem to have evolved impressive interspecific cooperation skills with humans ( Jensen et al, 2016 ; Miklósi & Topál, 2013 ). For example, comparative studies have shown that dogs have a higher sociability in general than wolves ( Bentosela et al, 2016 ) and, specifically, that dogs seek more human contact when faced with a problem than wolves do ( Heberlein et al, 2016 ; Miklósi et al, 2003 ; Udell, 2015 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sociality genes are associated with human-directed social behaviour in golden and Labrador retriever dogs

Persson

Sundman

Halldén

et al. 2018

PeerJ

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BackgroundDogs have human-directed social skills that allow them to communicate and cooperate with humans. We have previously identified two loci on chromosome 26 associated with human contact-seeking behaviors during an unsolvable problem task in laboratory beagles (Persson et al., 2016). The aim of the present study was to verify the single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in additional dog breeds. We also studied how the allele frequencies have changed during domestication and recent selection.MethodsDogs of two breeds, 61 golden retrievers and 100 Labrador retrievers, were phenotyped and genotyped, and 19 wolves were genotyped. The Labrador retrievers were divided into common and field type by pedigree data to make it possible to study the effects of recent selection. All dogs were tested in an unsolvable problem task where human-directed social behaviors were scored. DNA from dogs (buccal swabs) and wolves (blood or brain tissue) was analyzed for genotype on two of the previously identified SNP markers, BICF2G630798942 (SNP1) and BICF2S23712114 (SNP2), by pyrosequencing.ResultsThere was genetic variation for SNP1 in both dog breeds whereas the wolves were fixed for this polymorphism, and for SNP2 there was variation in both dogs and wolves. For both SNPs, Labrador retriever types differed significantly in allele frequencies. We found associations between SNPs and human-directed social behavior in both dog breeds. In golden retrievers, SNP1 was associated with physical contact variables, for example, with the duration of physical contact with the owner (F2,56 = 4.389, p = 0.017). SNP2 was associated with several behavioral variables in both breeds, among others owner gazing frequency in both golden retrievers (F2,55 = 6.330, p = 0.003) and Labradors (F1,93 = 5.209, p = 0.025).DiscussionOur results verify the association between the previously identified SNPs and human-directed social behavior scored in an unsolvable problem task. Differences in allele frequencies suggest that these loci have been affected by selection. The results indicate that these genomic regions are involved in human-directed social behavior in not only beagles but in other dog breeds as well. We hypothesize that they may have been important during dog domestication.

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“…Increasing evidence suggest that domestic dogs represent the ideal subjects for studying the genetics of social behavior (Jensen et al, ) and the evolution of a human‐analog social competence (Miklósi & Topál, ). In line with this idea, recent genetic studies have identified candidate genomic regions associated with human‐directed social behaviors in dogs (Kis et al, ; Persson, Wright, Roth, Batakis, & Jensen, ) and an experimental investigation of behavioral variations within a certain breed (Bull Terrier) revealed behavioral and endocrine phenotypes similar to the clinical presentation of human autism (Tsilioni et al, ).…”

Section: Translational Approaches To Understand Autism: Potentials and Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The dog (Canis familiaris) as a translational model of autism: It is high time we move from promise to reality

Topál

Román

Turcsán

2019

WIRES Cognitive Science

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Selecting appropriate animal models for a particular human phenomenon is a difficult but important challenge. The difficulty lies in finding animal behaviors that are not only sufficiently relevant and analog to the complex human symptoms (face validity) but also have similar underlying biological and etiological mechanisms (translational or construct validity), and have "human-like" responses to treatment (predictive validity). Over the past several years, the domestic dog (Canis familiaris) has become increasingly proposed as a model for comparative and translational neuroscience. In parallel to the recent advances in canine behavior research, dogs have also been proposed as a model of many human neuropsychiatric conditions, including autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In this opinion paper we will shortly discuss the challenging nature of autism research then summarize the different neurocognitive frameworks for ASD making the case for a canine model of autism. The translational value of a dog model stems from the recognition that (a) there is a large inter-individual variability in the manifestation of dogs' social cognitive abilities including both high and low phenotypic extremes; (b) the phenotypic similarity between the dog and human symptoms are much higher than between the rodent and human symptoms; (c) the symptoms are functionally analogous to the human condition; and (d) more likely to have similar etiology. This article is categorized under: Psychology > Comparative Psychology Cognitive Biology > Evolutionary Roots of Cognition K E Y W O R D S autism spectrum disorder, dog, model, translational validity

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The Genetics of How Dogs Became Our Social Allies

Cited by 10 publications

References 39 publications

Oxytocin and Opioid Receptor Gene Polymorphisms Associated with Greeting Behavior in Dogs

Oxytocin and Opioid Receptor Gene Polymorphisms Associated with Greeting Behavior in Dogs

Sociality genes are associated with human-directed social behaviour in golden and Labrador retriever dogs

The dog (Canis familiaris) as a translational model of autism: It is high time we move from promise to reality

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