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Copyright © 2018. This work is licensed under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.

Abstract

Background

Domesticated from gray wolves between 10 and 40 kya in Eurasia, dogs display a vast array of phenotypes that differ from their ancestors, yet mirror other domesticated animal species, a phenomenon known as the domestication syndrome. Here, we use signatures persisting in dog genomes to identify genes and pathways possibly altered by the selective pressures of domestication.

Results

Whole-genome SNP analyses of 43 globally distributed village dogs and 10 wolves differentiated signatures resulting from domestication rather than breed formation. We identified 246 candidate domestication regions containing 10.8 Mb of genome sequence and 429 genes. The regions share haplotypes with ancient dogs, suggesting that the detected signals are not the result of recent selection. Gene enrichments highlight numerous genes linked to neural crest and central nervous system development as well as neurological function. Read depth analysis suggests that copy number variation played a minor role in dog domestication.

Conclusions

Our results identify genes that act early in embryogenesis and can confer phenotypes distinguishing domesticated dogs from wolves, such as tameness, smaller jaws, floppy ears, and diminished craniofacial development as the targets of selection during domestication. These differences reflect the phenotypes of the domestication syndrome, which can be explained by alterations in the migration or activity of neural crest cells during development. We propose that initial selection during early dog domestication was for behavior, a trait influenced by genes which act in the neural crest, which secondarily gave rise to the phenotypes of modern dogs.

Details

Title
Comparison of village dog and wolf genomes highlights the role of the neural crest in dog domestication
Author
Pendleton, Amanda L; Shen, Feichen; Taravella, Angela M; Emery, Sarah; Veeramah, Krishna R; Boyko, Adam R; Kidd, Jeffrey M
Publication year
2018
Publication date
2018
Publisher
BioMed Central
e-ISSN
17417007
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2071429331
Copyright
Copyright © 2018. This work is licensed under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.