Dog genetics

[Adria, Dan, and Sookie]

Dog geneticist Elaine Ostrander has some new research she's just published about the genes that make your dogs' hair curly or flat! Apparently it comes down to a combination of variants of just 3 genes.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=112292082&...

And here is the Science article referred to in the NPR story:

http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/rapidpdf/1177808v1.pdf

I think it's interesting that we doodle owners see so many variations that are the result of these genes, and it also explains why it's hard to predict coat textures in future litters -- it's not just a single gene that determines wool/fleece/flat, it's THREE of them.

Well, I thought it was neat, anyway... :)

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I wasn't able to access the science article; it says you have to subscribe. :-(
I did find this article on the same topic, though:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8224519.stm

[Adria, Dan, and Sookie]

Oh bummer, I forgot about that. If you're at a university or library you can probably access it. There are some nice illustrations.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Apparently, there is a separate gene for length, for texture, and for curliness; for each factor, there is a "wild" type gene, which is more toward a wolf or wild dog's coat. Is that similar to what the other article says?
This is really interesting, I know there is a lot of interest in the coat types here, to say the least.

[Adria, Dan, and Sookie]

In a nutshell, yes, it's about that. I wish I could post the figure that has a nice diagram, but I can't seem to get the Science website to give me repost permissions.

[Adria, Dan, and Sookie]

Here are some more links that explain what the Science article says:

http://health.usnews.com/articles/health/healthday/2009/08/27/benji...

http://www.scienceblog.com/cms/variants-3-genes-account-most-dog-co...

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Thanks!