Hereditary deafness in the Dalmatian, a popular breed of the domestic dog (Canis 1upus familiaris) has been studied for over 100 years. Deafness in the domestic dog is not restricted to the Dalmatian but the breed has the highest incidence among all breeds. Even though the Dalmatian has been the subject of much investigation, the mechanism of transmission and the genes involved in deafness are still unknown. What is known is that a relationship between the pattern of pigmentation and deafness exists. This relationship between pigmentation and deafness is not unique to the dog. For example, a human condition termed Waardenburg Syndrome is partially typified by deafness and pigmentation abnormalities. Unlike the situation with the Dalmatian, multiple mutations in different genes have been determined to be causative for Waardenburg Syndrome. This fact notwithstanding, the etiology of deafness found in Waardenburg Syndrome is still unclear. Proposed here is use of the Dalmatian as a model to understand the genetics of pigment-associated deafness in the dog and human. The initial phase of this work will address the mode of transmission of deafness in the Dalmatian. The second phase will be concerned with linkage analysis of canine hereditary deafness. A whole genome screen of a multigenerational Dalmatian pedigree (with multiple affected members) will be done. This will be accomplished using a set of 172 microsatellite markers that provide 10cM coverage of the canine genome.
| Cargill, E J; Schnabel, R D; Murphy, K E (2004) Assignment of canine MSS1 microsatellite markers to chromosomes by linkage data. DNA Seq 15:209-12 |
| Cargill, E J; Famula, T R; Strain, G M et al. (2004) Heritability and segregation analysis of deafness in U.S. Dalmatians. Genetics 166:1385-93 |
