Hair of the dog excites scientists
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Your support makes all the difference.Just three genes determine why the coats of sleek Beagles and shaggy sheepdogs look so different, say scientists.
Three simple traits - length, curl and texture - together account for the physical appearance of a dog's fur, the researchers found.
Each is controlled by one major gene. Together, their DNA combinations decide whether dogs have hair that is wavy, straight, long or short, or embellished with "furnishings" such as moustaches or bushy eyebrows.
Until now, relatively little has been known about the genes influencing canine coats.
The US scientists scanned the genetic codes of 1,000 dogs from 80 breeds looking for letter variations called single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with different characteristics.
One of the animals used was the Portuguese water dog, the same breed as US President Barack Obama's dog Bo.
The researchers discovered that variants of the three genes accounted for seven major coat types in pure-bred dogs.
One of the genes, called FGF5, was linked to whether a dog's fur was long or short. Another, KRT71, decided whether it was straight, curly or wavy, while RSPO2 was associated with wiry hair and "furnishings" typical of Scottish terriers.
Modern dog breeds diverged from wolves around 15,000 years ago, but the inbred changes that have led to multiple coat types are much more recent, scientists believe.
Breeds with short, straight hair such as the Basset hound and Beagle, had the wolf-like and unaltered original versions of the three genes.
Others had different combinations of variants. For instance, dogs with wiry and curly hair, such as Airedale terriers, had altered versions of both the RSPO2 and KRT71 genes, while long-haired dogs with furnishings such as the bearded collie had variant FGF5 and RSPO2 genes.
Portuguese water dogs came in both curly-haired and wavy-haired varieties depending on what form of the KRT71 gene they had.
Lessons from the research, published in the journal Science, could help investigators looking into the genetic causes of human disease.
Study leader Dr Elaine Ostrander, from the US National Human Genome Research Institute, said: "What's important for human health is the way we found the genes involved in dog coats and figured out how they work together, rather than the genes themselves.
"We think this approach will help pinpoint multiple genes involved in complex human conditions, such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes and obesity."
Whether or not the same genes also play a role in determining human hair type is not known.
Since the FGF5 and KRT71 genes affect the fur of mice and cats as well as dogs, it was possible they influenced human hair too, said the scientists.
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