Genetic Rescue of the Highly Inbred Norwegian Lundehund
Augmenting the genetic diversity of small, inbred populations by the introduction of new individuals is often termed “genetic rescue”. An example is the Norwegian Lundehund, a small spitz dog with inbreeding-related health problems that is being crossed with three Nordic breeds, including the Norweg...
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| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-01-01
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| Series: | Genes |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4425/13/1/163 |
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| author | Claudia Melis Cino Pertoldi William Basil Ludington Carol Beuchat Gunnar Qvigstad Astrid Vik Stronen |
| author_facet | Claudia Melis Cino Pertoldi William Basil Ludington Carol Beuchat Gunnar Qvigstad Astrid Vik Stronen |
| author_sort | Claudia Melis |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Augmenting the genetic diversity of small, inbred populations by the introduction of new individuals is often termed “genetic rescue”. An example is the Norwegian Lundehund, a small spitz dog with inbreeding-related health problems that is being crossed with three Nordic breeds, including the Norwegian Buhund. Conservation breeding decisions for the (typically) small number of outcrossed individuals are vital for managing the rescue process, and we genotyped the Lundehund (<i>n</i> = 12), the Buhund (<i>n</i> = 12), their crosses (F1, <i>n</i> = 7) and first-generation backcrosses to the Lundehund (F2, <i>n</i> = 12) with >170,000 single nucleotide polymorphism loci to compare their levels of genetic diversity. We predicted that genome-wide diversity in F2 dogs would be higher than in the Lundehund but lower than in the F1 and the Buhund, and the heterozygosity values showed the expected patterns. We also found that runs of homozygosity, extended chromosomal regions of homozygous genotypes inherited from a common ancestor, were reduced in F2 individuals compared with Lundehund individuals. Our analyses demonstrate the benefits of outcrossing but indicate that some of the acquired genetic diversity is lost following immediate backcrossing. Additional breeding among F2 crosses could therefore merit from further consideration in genetic rescue management. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T01:24:37Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-2ed8c08f67434d1ea8b0a12df6990c1d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2073-4425 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T01:24:37Z |
| publishDate | 2022-01-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Genes |
| spelling | doaj.art-2ed8c08f67434d1ea8b0a12df6990c1d2023-11-23T13:53:21ZengMDPI AGGenes2073-44252022-01-0113116310.3390/genes13010163Genetic Rescue of the Highly Inbred Norwegian LundehundClaudia Melis0Cino Pertoldi1William Basil Ludington2Carol Beuchat3Gunnar Qvigstad4Astrid Vik Stronen5Department of Nature, Environment and Health, Queen Maud University College, Thrond Nergaards Veg 7, 7044 Trondheim, NorwayDepartment of Chemistry and Bioscience, Aalborg University, Fredrik Bajers Vej 7H, 9220 Aalborg Øst, DenmarkDepartment of Embryology, Carnegie Institution for Science, Baltimore, MD 21218, USAInstitute of Canine Biology, Mission Viejo, CA 92691, USADepartment of Clinical and Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), 7491 Trondheim, NorwayDepartment of Chemistry and Bioscience, Aalborg University, Fredrik Bajers Vej 7H, 9220 Aalborg Øst, DenmarkAugmenting the genetic diversity of small, inbred populations by the introduction of new individuals is often termed “genetic rescue”. An example is the Norwegian Lundehund, a small spitz dog with inbreeding-related health problems that is being crossed with three Nordic breeds, including the Norwegian Buhund. Conservation breeding decisions for the (typically) small number of outcrossed individuals are vital for managing the rescue process, and we genotyped the Lundehund (<i>n</i> = 12), the Buhund (<i>n</i> = 12), their crosses (F1, <i>n</i> = 7) and first-generation backcrosses to the Lundehund (F2, <i>n</i> = 12) with >170,000 single nucleotide polymorphism loci to compare their levels of genetic diversity. We predicted that genome-wide diversity in F2 dogs would be higher than in the Lundehund but lower than in the F1 and the Buhund, and the heterozygosity values showed the expected patterns. We also found that runs of homozygosity, extended chromosomal regions of homozygous genotypes inherited from a common ancestor, were reduced in F2 individuals compared with Lundehund individuals. Our analyses demonstrate the benefits of outcrossing but indicate that some of the acquired genetic diversity is lost following immediate backcrossing. Additional breeding among F2 crosses could therefore merit from further consideration in genetic rescue management.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4425/13/1/163conservation breedingdomestic dogsgenetic diversitynative breedsoutcrossingpopulation recovery |
| spellingShingle | Claudia Melis Cino Pertoldi William Basil Ludington Carol Beuchat Gunnar Qvigstad Astrid Vik Stronen Genetic Rescue of the Highly Inbred Norwegian Lundehund Genes conservation breeding domestic dogs genetic diversity native breeds outcrossing population recovery |
| title | Genetic Rescue of the Highly Inbred Norwegian Lundehund |
| title_full | Genetic Rescue of the Highly Inbred Norwegian Lundehund |
| title_fullStr | Genetic Rescue of the Highly Inbred Norwegian Lundehund |
| title_full_unstemmed | Genetic Rescue of the Highly Inbred Norwegian Lundehund |
| title_short | Genetic Rescue of the Highly Inbred Norwegian Lundehund |
| title_sort | genetic rescue of the highly inbred norwegian lundehund |
| topic | conservation breeding domestic dogs genetic diversity native breeds outcrossing population recovery |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4425/13/1/163 |
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