| 1. |
- Promerová, Marta, et al.
(author)
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Worldwide frequency distribution of the 'Gait keeper' mutation in the DMRT3 gene
- 2014
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In: Animal Genetics. - : Wiley. - 0268-9146 .- 1365-2052. ; 45:2, s. 274-282
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- For centuries, domestic horses have represented an important means of transport and served as working and companion animals. Although their role in transportation is less important today, many horse breeds are still subject to intense selection based on their pattern of locomotion. A striking example of such a selected trait is the ability of a horse to perform additional gaits other than the common walk, trot and gallop. Those could be four-beat ambling gaits, which are particularly smooth and comfortable for the rider, or pace, used mainly in racing. Gaited horse breeds occur around the globe, suggesting that gaitedness is an old trait, selected for in many breeds. A recent study discovered that a nonsense mutation in DMRT3 has a major impact on gaitedness in horses and is present at a high frequency in gaited breeds and in horses bred for harness racing. Here, we report a study of the worldwide distribution of this mutation. We genotyped 4396 horses representing 141 horse breeds for the DMRT3 stop mutation. More than half (2749) of these horses also were genotyped for a SNP situated 32kb upstream of the DMRT3 nonsense mutation because these two SNPs are in very strong linkage disequilibrium. We show that the DMRT3 mutation is present in 68 of the 141 genotyped horse breeds at a frequency ranging from 1% to 100%. We also show that the mutation is not limited to a geographical area, but is found worldwide. The breeds with a high frequency of the stop mutation (>50%) are either classified as gaited or bred for harness racing.
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| 2. |
- Winternitz, J. C., et al.
(author)
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Effects of heterozygosity and MHC diversity on patterns of extra-pair paternity in the socially monogamous scarlet rosefinch
- 2015
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In: Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0340-5443 .- 1432-0762. ; 69:3, s. 459-469
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Extra-pair copulation without apparent direct benefits is an evolutionary puzzle that requires indirect fitness benefits to females to explain its ubiquity in socially monogamous mating systems. Using wild scarlet rosefinches (Carpodacus erythrinus), we tested if genetic benefits in the form of global (microsatellite) heterozygote advantage, adaptive genes (major histocompatibility complex), or complementary genes (using both markers) were responsible for female extra-pair mate choice, while considering that the benefits of mate choice may be conditional on female genotype. We found no evidence for assortative or relatedness-based mating (complementary genes), but higher MHC diversity, microsatellite heterozygosity, and condition were significantly related to male extra-pair paternity (EPP) success. In contrast, female probability of having extra-pair offspring decreased with increasing heterozygosity. Interestingly, extra-pair and within-pair males had higher heterozygosity than their female mates and extra-pair males had higher MHC supertype diversity. The only genetic difference between extra-pair and within-pair offspring was lower variance in MHC allelic diversity within extra-pair offspring, providing limited support for indirect genetic fitness benefits for the markers tested. Offspring had both higher neutral heterozygosity and number of MHC supertypes than adults, as well as significant identity disequilibrium, potentially suggesting that mates are chosen to increase offspring diversity in the period of the present study. Overall, our results point to an EPP heterozygote advantage for males, especially when involving less heterozygous females, and suggest that heterozygosity effects on reproduction may differ between the sexes.
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| 3. |
- Staiger, E. A., et al.
(author)
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The evolutionary history of the DMRT3 'Gait keeper' haplotype
- 2017
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In: Animal Genetics. - : WILEY. - 0268-9146 .- 1365-2052. ; 48:5, s. 551-559
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- A previous study revealed a strong association between the DMRT3:Ser301STOP mutation in horses and alternate gaits as well as performance in harness racing. Several follow-up studies have confirmed a high frequency of the mutation in gaited horse breeds and an effect on gait quality. The aim of this study was to determine when and where the mutation arose, to identify additional potential causal mutations and to determine the coalescence time for contemporary haplotypes carrying the stop mutation. We utilized sequences from 89 horses representing 26 breeds to identify 102 SNPs encompassing the DMRT3 gene that are in strong linkage disequilibrium with the stop mutation. These 102 SNPs were genotyped in an additional 382 horses representing 72 breeds, and we identified 14 unique haplotypes. The results provided conclusive evidence that DMRT3: Ser301STOP is causal, as no other sequence polymorphisms showed an equally strong association to locomotion traits. The low sequence diversity among mutant chromosomes demonstrated that they must have diverged from a common ancestral sequence within the last 10 000 years. Thus, the mutation occurred either just before domestication or more likely some time after domestication and then spread across the world as a result of selection on locomotion traits.
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