Abstract A favourable genetic structure and diversity of behavioural features highlights the potential of dogs for studying the genetic architecture of behaviour traits. However, behaviours are complex traits, which have been shown to be influenced by numerous genetic and non-genetic factors, complicating their analysis. In this study, the genetic contribution to behaviour variation in German Shepherd dogs (GSDs) was analysed using genomic approaches. GSDs were phenotyped for behaviour traits using the established Canine Behavioural Assessment and Research Questionnaire (C-BARQ). Genome-wide association study (GWAS) and regional heritability mapping (RHM) approaches were employed to identify associations between behaviour traits and genetic variants, while accounting for relevant non-genetic factors. By combining these complementary methods we endeavoured to increase the power to detect loci with small effects. Several behavioural traits exhibited moderate heritabilities, with the highest identified for Human-directed playfulness, a trait characterised by positive interactions with humans. We identified several genomic regions associated with one or more of the analysed behaviour traits. Some candidate genes located in these regions were previously linked to behavioural disorders in humans, suggesting a new context for their influence on behaviour characteristics. Overall, the results support dogs as a valuable resource to dissect the genetic architecture of behaviour traits and also highlight the value of focusing on a single breed in order to control for background genetic effects and thus avoid limitations of between-breed analyses.

Juliane Friedrich

Erling Strandberg

Per Arvelius

E. Sánchez-Molano

Ricardo Pong-Wong

John M. Hickey

Marie J. Haskell

Pamela Wiener

Heredity

遗传是遗传学会的官方期刊。它涵盖了遗传学领域的广泛主题，因此论文必须解决期刊广泛读者感兴趣的概念或应用问题

Heredity is the official journal of the Genetics Society. It covers a wide range of topics in the field of genetics, and papers must address concepts or application issues that are of interest to a broad readership.

《Heredity》是遗传学会的官方期刊，涵盖遗传学领域的广泛主题。期刊所发表的论文需解决与遗传学相关的概念或应用问题，以吸引广泛的读者群体。

Genetic dissection of complex behaviour traits in German Shepherd dogs

The results support dogs as a valuable resource to dissect the genetic architecture of behaviour traits and also highlight the value of focusing on a single breed in order to control for background genetic effects and thus avoid limitations of between-breed analyses.

Category	Quartile
生物学	2
生物学, 遗传学	2
生物学, 生态学	3
生物学, 进化生物学	3

Genetic dissection of complex behaviour traits in German Shepherd dogs

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Journal Info

Category	Quartile
GENETICS & HEREDITY	2