A population study of a mutation allele associated with cone-rod dystrophy in the standard wire-haired dachshund

The genetics of eye disorders in the dog

Inherited forms of eye disease are arguably the best described and best characterized of all inherited diseases in the dog, at both the clinical and molecular level and at the time of writing 29 different mutations have been documented in the scientific literature that are associated with an inherited ocular disorder in the dog. The dog has already played an important role in the identification of genes that are important for ocular development and function as well as emerging therapies for inherited blindness in humans. Similarities in disease phenotype and eye structure and function between dog and man, together with the increasingly sophisticated genetic tools that are available for the dog, mean that the dog is likely to play an ever increasing role in both our understanding of the normal functioning of the eye and in our ability to treat inherited eye disorders. This review summarises the mutations that have been associated with inherited eye disorders in the dog.

Array-based whole-genome survey of dog saliva DNA yields high quality SNP data

Background

Genome-wide association scans for genetic loci underlying both Mendelian and complex traits are increasingly common in canine genetics research. However, the demand for high-quality DNA for use on such platforms creates challenges for traditional blood sample ascertainment. Though the use of saliva as a means of collecting DNA is common in human studies, alternate means of DNA collection for canine research have instead been limited to buccal swabs, from which dog DNA is of insufficient quality and yield for use on most high-throughput array-based systems. We thus investigated an animal-based saliva collection method for ease of use and quality of DNA obtained and tested the performance of saliva-extracted canine DNA on genome-wide genotyping arrays.

Methodology/Principal Findings

Overall, we found that saliva sample collection using this method was efficient. Extractions yielded high concentrations (∼125 ng/ul) of high-quality DNA that performed equally well as blood-extracted DNA on the Illumina Infinium canine genotyping platform, with average call rates >99%. Concordance rates between genotype calls of saliva- versus blood-extracted DNA samples from the same individual were also >99%. Additionally, in silico calling of copy number variants was successfully performed and verified by PCR.

Conclusions/Significance

Our findings validate the use of saliva-obtained samples for genome-wide association studies in canines, highlighting an alternative means of collecting samples in a convenient and non-invasive manner.