Project description:Transcriptional profiling of dog muscle tissue comparing control dogs. tested, genomewide, for genes differentially expressed in muscle between the escapers and the affected dogs. Using Agilent mRNA SurePrint Canine arrays, we compared muscle gene expression of the two escapers, four affected, and four normal dogs at age 2 years.
Project description:Transcriptional profiling of dog muscle tissue comparing control dogs. tested, genomewide, for genes differentially expressed in muscle between the escapers and the affected dogs. Using Agilent mRNA SurePrint Canine arrays, we compared muscle gene expression of the two escapers, four affected, and four normal dogs at age 2 years. normal, affected DMD, and escapers
Project description:Through thousands of years of breeding and strong human selection, the dog (Canis lupus familiaris) exists today within hundreds of closed populations throughout the world, each with defined phenotypes. A singular geographic region with broad diversity in dog breeds presents an interesting opportunity to observe potential mechanisms of breed formation. Italy claims 14 internationally recognized dog breeds, with numerous additional local varieties. To determine the relationship among Italian dog populations, we integrated genetic data from 263 dogs representing 23 closed dog populations from Italy, seven Apennine gray wolves. Using 142,840 genome-wide SNPs, this dataset was used in the identification of breed development routes for the Italian breeds that included divergence from common populations for a specific purpose, admixture of regional stock with that from other regions, and isolated selection of local stock with specific attributes.
Project description:The Italian island of Sardinia is well known in studies of human population isolates. It is also home to the Fonni's Dog, a breed of canine whose development was reliant on the functionality of the dog. Using genome-wide variant and sequence analyses, we have characterized the Fonni's Dog relative to 27 other dog breeds from the Mediterranean region. We determine introgression events relevant to Mediterranean breed development and describe how the Fonni's dog presents an intriguing model demonstrating the characteristics of traditional human population isolates and, in particular, exhibiting the unique demographic composition of the people of Sardinia.
Project description:The Italian island of Sardinia is well known in studies of human population isolates. It is also home to the Fonni's Dog, a breed of canine whose development was reliant on the functionality of the dog. Using genome-wide variant and sequence analyses, we have characterized the Fonni's Dog relative to 27 other dog breeds from the Mediterranean region. We determine introgression events relevant to Mediterranean breed development and describe how the Fonni's dog presents an intriguing model demonstrating the characteristics of traditional human population isolates and, in particular, exhibiting the unique demographic composition of the people of Sardinia.
Project description:The Italian island of Sardinia is well known in studies of human population isolates. It is also home to the Fonni's Dog, a breed of canine whose development was reliant on the functionality of the dog. Using genome-wide variant and sequence analyses, we have characterized the Fonni's Dog relative to 27 other dog breeds from the Mediterranean region. We determine introgression events relevant to Mediterranean breed development and describe how the Fonni's dog presents an intriguing model demonstrating the characteristics of traditional human population isolates and, in particular, exhibiting the unique demographic composition of the people of Sardinia.
Project description:Most studies on dogs' cognitive skills in understanding human communication have been conducted on pet dogs, making them a role model for the species. However, pet dogs are just a minor and particular sample of the total dog world population, which would instead be better represented by free-ranging dogs. Since free-ranging dogs are still facing the selective forces of the domestication process, they indeed represent an important study subject to investigate the effect that such a process has had on dogs' behavior and cognition. Despite only a few studies on free-ranging dogs (specifically village dogs) having been conducted so far, the results are intriguing. In fact, village dogs seem to place a high value on social contact with humans and understand some aspects of humans' communication. In this study we aimed to investigate village dogs' ability in understanding a subtle human communicative cue: human facial expressions, and compared them with pet dogs, who have already provided evidence of this social skill. We tested whether subjects were able to distinguish between neutral, happy, and angry human facial expressions in a test mimicking a potential real-life situation, where the experimenter repeatedly performed one facial expression while eating some food, and ultimately dropped it on the ground. We found evidence that village dogs, as well as pet dogs, could distinguish between subtle human communicative cues, since they performed a higher frequency of aversive gazes (looking away) in the angry condition than in the happy condition. However, we did not find other behavioral effects of the different conditions, likely due to the low intensity of the emotional expression performed. We suggest that village dogs' ability in distinguishing between human facial expressions could provide them with an advantage in surviving in a human-dominated environment.
Project description:The Italian island of Sardinia is well known in studies of human population isolates. It is also home to the Fonni's Dog, a breed of canine whose development was reliant on the functionality of the dog. Using genome-wide variant and sequence analyses, we have characterized the Fonni's Dog relative to 27 other dog breeds from the Mediterranean region. We determine introgression events relevant to Mediterranean breed development and describe how the Fonni's dog presents an intriguing model demonstrating the characteristics of traditional human population isolates and, in particular, exhibiting the unique demographic composition of the people of Sardinia. 4 canine samples representing 1 dog breed
Project description:The Italian island of Sardinia is well known in studies of human population isolates. It is also home to the Fonni's Dog, a breed of canine whose development was reliant on the functionality of the dog. Using genome-wide variant and sequence analyses, we have characterized the Fonni's Dog relative to 27 other dog breeds from the Mediterranean region. We determine introgression events relevant to Mediterranean breed development and describe how the Fonni's dog presents an intriguing model demonstrating the characteristics of traditional human population isolates and, in particular, exhibiting the unique demographic composition of the people of Sardinia. 82 canine samples representing 9 dog breeds