title: Rapid genetic diversification within dog breeds as evidenced by a case study on Schnauzers.
abstract: As a result of strong artificial selection, the domesticated dog has arguably become one of the most morphologically diverse vertebrate species, which is mirrored in the classification of around 400 different breeds. To test the influence of breeding history on the genetic structure and variability of today's dog breeds, we investigated 12 dog breeds using a set of 19 microsatellite markers from a total of 597 individuals with about 50 individuals analysed per breed. High genetic diversity was noted over all breeds, with the ancient Asian breeds (Akita, Chow Chow, Shar Pei) exhibiting the highest variability, as was indicated chiefly by an extraordinarily high number of rare and private alleles. Using a Bayesian clustering method, we detected significant genetic stratification within the closely related Schnauzer breeds. The individuals of these three recently differentiated breeds (Miniature, Standard and Giant Schnauzer) could not be assigned to a single cluster each. This hidden genetic structure was probably caused by assortative mating owing to breeders' preferences regarding coat colour types and the underlying practice of breeding in separate lineages. Such processes of strong artificial disruptive selection for different morphological traits in isolated and relatively small lineages can result in the rapid creation of new dog types and potentially new breeds and represent a unique opportunity to study the evolution of genetic and morphological differences in recently diverged populations.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Spezielle Zoologie und Evolutionsbiologie mit Phyletischem Museum, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität, Erbertstr. 1, 07743, Jena, Germany.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Streitberger
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schweizer
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kropatsch
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Dekomien
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Distl
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Fischer
authors.forename: J T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Epplen
authors.forename: S T
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Hertwig
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001499:Bayes Theorem; D001947:Breeding; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D004285:Dogs / Q000235:genetics*; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D013045:Species Specificity