Identification of genetic variants associated with ear length in drop-eared dogs.

ABSTRACT: External ear size varies dramatically across animals, in part because of its role in thermoregulation: small ears conserve heat, while large ears dissipate heat. Genetic factors influencing ear size are known in several domesticated species but remain unexplored in dogs. We used whole-genome sequences aligned to canFam4 to perform an across-breed genome-wide association study (GWAS) for drop ear length. We identified a significant locus on canine chromosome (CFA) 10, intergenic to MSRB3 and HMGA2. The position of the lead variant (chr10:8,612,500, P = 1.85 × 10^- 17) is evolutionarily conserved and, in humans, interacts with an MSRB3 enhancer. Given that this locus governs ear carriage in dogs, which was uniform in our cohort, we conducted a GWAS using prick- and drop-eared breed

SUBMITTER: Rudolph TE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12830694 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature