Survey of functional Mendelian variants in New Zealand Huntaway and Heading dog breeds
Loading...
Date
2025-10-01
Open Access Location
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
John Wiley and Sons Ltd on behalf of Stichting International Foundation for Animal Genetics
Rights
(c) 2025 The Author/s
CC BY-NC 4.0
CC BY-NC 4.0
Abstract
New Zealand (NZ) Huntaway and Heading dogs are working breeds that play active roles on farms across NZ. While these breeds are common in NZ, they are not well-known elsewhere, and little is understood about their genetic make-up. Here, we used whole genome sequencing to provide a comprehensive genomic view of 249 working dogs. As first use of this resource, we report the allele frequencies of provisionally functional variants aggregated from the Online Mendelian Inheritance in Animals (OMIA) database. Of 435 “probably causal” variants, 27 segregated in our sample. Notable examples of disease variants potentially actionable for selection include those in the CUBN, CLN8, SGSH, SOD1, VWF, and VPS13B genes. These findings will enable genetic testing and selection opportunities to help improve the health and performance of future generations of these unique breeds.
Description
Keywords
bioinformatics, Canis lupus familiaris, Heading dog, Huntaway, Mendelian genetics, whole genome sequencing
Citation
Smith F, Lopdell T, Stephen M, Henry M, Dittmer K, Hunt H, Sneddon N, Williams L, Rolfe J, Garrick D, Littlejohn MD. (2025). Survey of functional Mendelian variants in New Zealand Huntaway and Heading dog breeds. Animal Genetics. 56. 5.