Polymorphisms in the canine glutamate transporter-1 gene: identification and variation among five dog breeds.
Excitatory amino acid transporters (EAATs) are important for terminating glutamatergic neurotransmission and protect central nervous system (CNS) neurons from glutamatergic excitotoxicity. We selected these genes as targets that may relate to canine behavioral traits. After screening four EAAT genes (glutamate transporter-1; GLT-1, excitatory amino acid transporter 4; EAAT4, excitatory amino acid carrier; EAAC1, glutamate/aspartate transporter; GLAST) for single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), we identified two silent SNPs (C129T and T471C) in the GLT-1 gene. We genotyped 193 dogs of 5 breeds and found significant variation among breeds in these two SNPs in GLT-1. The C129T polymorphism was not observed in Malteses and Miniature Schnauzers. These results suggest that polymorphisms in the GLT-1 gene may be useful markers for examining how the genetic background relates to the behavioral traits of dogs.
Ogata
Niwako
N
Laboratory of Veterinary Ethology, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-8657, Japan.
Hashizume
Chie
C
Momozawa
Yukihide
Y
Masuda
Koji
K
Kikusui
Takefumi
T
Takeuchi
Yukari
Y
Mori
Yuji
Y
D000483:Alleles; D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D004285:Dogs / Q000235:genetics*; D027342:Excitatory Amino Acid Transporter 2 / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D014644:Genetic Variation; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide
D027342:Excitatory Amino Acid Transporter 2; D004247:DNA