Study On Activity And Polymorphisms Of Relative Genes In Labrador Retrievers

Objective: Guide dogs are faced with two major problems in the training process: low success rate of training and high complexity of training,which seriously affect the development of guide dogs,resulting in the current number of guide dogs far from meeting the needs of people with visual disabilities.By conducting effective screening in the early stage of the training of guide dog and selecting dogs with the potential to be guide dogs in advance,the success rate of the training of guide dog can be improved and the cost of training can be reduced.At present,most of the screening of guide dogs using behavioral testing,this method is relatively subjective and the results are not very accurate,and the molecular genetics makes judgments from the level of DNA,which not affected by other factors,so the judgment is more stable and reliable,and the implementation is more convenient.Therefore,this study selected three genes related to dog behavior based on the behavior test: COMT(Catechol-O-methyltransferase,COMT)?SLC1A2(Solute carrier family 1 member 2,SLC1A2)and TH(Tyrosine hydroxylase,TH),three important SNP loci were screened from each gen,and study the correlation between variables from the polymorphism of the 9 SNPS loci and the activity of Labrador retriever,it aims to establish molecular genetic markers of behaviour for the training of guide dogs,in order to reduce the training cost of guide dogs and improve the training success rate,which can make a small contribution to the development of guide dogs.Methods: The experimental subjects of this study were selected 81 Labradors(male: 48,female: 33)that provided by the China Guide Dog Training Center of Dalian.To assessing dog's activity by Dog activity assessment(DAA).Each SNP locus was genotyped by PCR-sequencing.The correlation between the genotypes of the 9 SNP loci and the behavioral variables of dog's activity was statistically analyzed by SPSS19.0 software.Results: 1.Correlation between sex and dog's activity behavior variablesThere was no significant difference between sex and the dog's activity variables which were selected in this study: COMT(F(1,79)<0.71,P>0.05),SLC1A2(F(1,74)<1.95,P>0.05),TH(F(1,63)<2.16,P>0.05).2.Correlation between SNP loci polymorphism of COMT and activity behavior variablesThere are three genotypes in the c.39A>G,c.216G>A and c.482G>A of the COMT.The c.39A>G of the COMT was moderately polymorphic in Labradors(0.5>PIC>0.25),while c.216G>A and c.482G>A showed low polymorphism(PIC< 0.25).The correlation between c.39A>G and social contact,play,chase and passive situation was not significant(F(2,71)<1.26,P>0.05);There was also no significant difference between c.216G>A and c.482G>A and four activity behavior variables(F(1,71)<3.57,P>0.05).This suggests that the COMT gene may have no direct effect on Labradors' activity.3.Correlation between SNP loci polymorphism of SLC1A2 and activity behavior variablesAmong the three SNP loci of the SLC1A2,only the c.471T>C is polymorphic.The c.471T>C of the SLC1A2 was moderately polymorphic in Labradors(0.5>PIC>0.25).There was no significant correlation between the c.471T>C of SLC1A2 and four activity variables: social contact,play,chase and passive situation(F(1,71)<3.57,P>0.05).4.Correlation between SNP loci polymorphism of TH and activity behavior variablesAmong the 3 SNP loci of TH,there were only 2 genotypes in c.168C>T and c.180C>T,and low polymorphism(PIC<0.25)in Labradors.There was no significant effect on the activity behavior variables(F(1,58)<0.88,P>0.05).There are three genotypes in c.264G>A,which is moderate polymorphism(0.5>PIC>0.25).There was no significant correlation between c.264G>A polymorphism and social contact,play and passive situation(F(2,58)<1.40,P>0.05),but significant correlation with chase(F(2,58)=5.186,P=0.008<0.05),and the effect on the grasping reaction in the chase is significant(P=0.02<0.05).Conclusion: The polymorphisms of SNP loci selected from COMT,SLC1A2 and TH genes may have no significant influence on the Activity of Labradors..Only the c.264G>A of the TH is significantly correlated with the grasping response in the chase,suggesting that the TH may have an effect on the dog's picking behavior,and can be used as an effective genetic molecular marker for the early identification of guide dogs and other working dogs.