Working with canine chromosomes: current recommendations for karyotype description

There is an increasing interest in genomic research on the domestic dog (Canis familiaris). However, these investigations are complicated by the canine karyotype comprising 76 acrocentric autosomes of similar size and shape and the metacentric sex chromosomes. None of the numerous published ideograms and karyotypes has yet been generally accepted. The present article gives a review of these descriptions of the canine karyotype. The two most recent nomenclatures and the current efforts toward a standardized canine karyotype made by the Committee for the Standardized Karyotype of the Dog are discussed in detail and recommendations for future use of a nomenclature for the canine karyotype are given.