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Selective sweep mapping of genes with large phenotypic effects
John P Pollinger1, Carlos D Bustamante, Adi Fledel-Alon
1Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90095-1606, USA. jpolling@ucla.edu
Genome Research
|December 13, 2005
Summary
Intense artificial selection in domestic dogs creates genomic regions with low variation. These selective sweeps help identify genes influencing breed traits, aiding in genetic research and dog breeding.
Area of Science:
- Population Genetics
- Animal Genomics
- Canine Genetics
Background:
- Domestic dog breeds arise from intense artificial selection, fixing specific mutations.
- This selection process results in selective sweeps, characterized by reduced genetic variation and allele frequency divergence near influential genes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To model canine breed formation and assess the efficacy of low-resolution genomic scans for identifying genes affecting breed-defining traits.
- To evaluate the power of polymorphic markers in detecting regions under strong artificial selection in dogs.
Main Methods:
- Modeling breed formation to calculate the false-positive rate of detecting selection signals with adjacent marker loci.
- Simulations using selection with moderately spaced, highly polymorphic markers (e.g., 0.8 cM intervals).
- Genomic scans using microsatellite markers in Large Munsterlanders (coat color gene) and Dachshunds (achondroplasia-related region).
Main Results:
- Low probability of false-positive selection signals when using highly variable, moderately spaced markers.
- High power to detect artificially selected regions using polymorphic markers.
- Identified a 40-Mb region of low heterozygosity around a black coat color gene in Large Munsterlanders.
- Discovered three linked monomorphic microsatellite markers within a 10-Mb region on chromosome 3 in Dachshunds, near the FGFR3 gene.
Conclusions:
- Low-resolution genomic scans are effective for identifying genes under strong artificial selection in dogs.
- The findings suggest a gene or regulatory region closely linked to FGFR3 is responsible for a specific trait in Dachshunds, distinct from its role in human achondroplasia.