The legacy of domestication: accumulation of deleterious mutations in the dog genome
Open accessAbstract
Dogs exhibit more phenotypic variation than any other mammal and are affected by a wide variety of genetic diseases. However, the origin and genetic basis of this variation is still poorly understood. We examined the effect of domestication on the dog genome by comparison with its wild ancestor, the gray wolf. We compared variation in dog and wolf genes using whole-genome single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) data. The d(N)/d(S) ratio (omega) was around 50% greater for SNPs found in dogs than in wolves, indicating that a higher proportion of nonsynonymous alleles segregate in dogs compared with nonfunctional genetic variation. We suggest that the majority of these alleles are slightly deleterious and that two main factors may have contributed to their increase. The first is a relaxation of selective constraint due to a population bottleneck and altered breeding patterns accompanying domestication. The second is a reduction of effective population size at loci linked to those under positive selection due to Hill-Robertson interference. An increase in slightly deleterious genetic variation could contribute to the prevalence of disease in modern dog breeds.
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A build-up of deleterious alleles is documented across domesticated species when compared to their wild counterparts.
“A build-up of deleterious alleles is documented across domesticated species when compared to their wild counterparts.”
From Self-domestication in Homo sapiens: Insights from comparative genomics (2017) · cites this paper as [129]
There is a higher frequency of non-synonymous substitutions in the nuclear DNA of domesticated dogs relative to gray wolves.
“there is a higher frequency of non-synonymous substitutions in the nuclear DNA of domesticated dogs relative to gray wolves [129]”
From Self-domestication in Homo sapiens: Insights from comparative genomics (2017) · cites this paper as [129]
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References 36 · Cited by 154
- Authors
- Cruz, F., Vila, C., & Webster, M. T.
- Affiliations
- University of Lausanne (CH)
- Uppsala University (SE)
- Venue
- Molecular Biology and Evolution
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2008-08-21
- Volume
- 25
- Issue
- 11
- Pages
- 2331-2336
- ISSN
- 0737-4038 (ISSN-L)
- 1537-1719
- OpenAlex
- W2068952795
- Cited by
- 154
- References
- 36
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 15 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 11 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 11 · 2017: 10 · 2016: 11 · 2015: 8 · 2014: 8 · 2013: 5 · 2012: 7
- FWCI
- 6.86
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- hdl.handle.net
- Licence
- other-oa
- Locations
- Molecular Biology and Evolution (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DIGITAL.CSIC (Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- IRIS (submittedVersion)
- SERVAL (Université de Lausanne) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genetic and phenotypic traits in livestock
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Evolution and Genetic Dynamics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Human-Animal Interaction Studies
- Keywords
- dog domestication, gray wolf, deleterious mutations, non-synonymous SNPs, positive selection, population bottleneck, effective population size, Hill-Robertson interference, dog breeds, single nucleotide polymorphisms
- MeSH terms
- Alleles, Animals, Animals, Domestic, Cats, Dogs, Gene Frequency, Mutation, Genetic Variation, Sequence Alignment, Genome, Sequence Analysis, DNA, Wolves, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide
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