Diet adaptation in dog reflects spread of prehistoric agriculture
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Diet adaptation in dog reflects spread of prehistoric agriculture. / Arendt, M; Cairns, K M; Ballard, J W O; Savolainen, P; Axelsson, E.
I: Heredity, Bind 117, Nr. 5, 11.2016, s. 301-306.Publikation: Bidrag til tidsskrift › Tidsskriftartikel › Forskning › fagfællebedømt
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Diet adaptation in dog reflects spread of prehistoric agriculture
AU - Arendt, M
AU - Cairns, K M
AU - Ballard, J W O
AU - Savolainen, P
AU - Axelsson, E
PY - 2016/11
Y1 - 2016/11
N2 - Adaptations allowing dogs to thrive on a diet rich in starch, including a significant AMY2B copy number gain, constituted a crucial step in the evolution of the dog from the wolf. It is however not clear whether this change was associated with the initial domestication, or represents a secondary shift related to the subsequent development of agriculture. Previous efforts to study this process were based on geographically limited data sets and low-resolution methods, and it is therefore not known to what extent the diet adaptations are universal among dogs and whether there are regional differences associated with alternative human subsistence strategies. Here we use droplet PCR to investigate worldwide AMY2B copy number diversity among indigenous as well as breed dogs and wolves to elucidate how a change in dog diet was associated with the domestication process and subsequent shifts in human subsistence. We find that AMY2B copy numbers are bimodally distributed with high copy numbers (median 2nAMY2B=11) in a majority of dogs but no, or few, duplications (median 2nAMY2B=3) in a small group of dogs originating mostly in Australia and the Arctic. We show that this pattern correlates geographically to the spread of prehistoric agriculture and conclude that the diet change may not have been associated with initial domestication but rather the subsequent development and spread of agriculture to most, but not all regions of the globe.
AB - Adaptations allowing dogs to thrive on a diet rich in starch, including a significant AMY2B copy number gain, constituted a crucial step in the evolution of the dog from the wolf. It is however not clear whether this change was associated with the initial domestication, or represents a secondary shift related to the subsequent development of agriculture. Previous efforts to study this process were based on geographically limited data sets and low-resolution methods, and it is therefore not known to what extent the diet adaptations are universal among dogs and whether there are regional differences associated with alternative human subsistence strategies. Here we use droplet PCR to investigate worldwide AMY2B copy number diversity among indigenous as well as breed dogs and wolves to elucidate how a change in dog diet was associated with the domestication process and subsequent shifts in human subsistence. We find that AMY2B copy numbers are bimodally distributed with high copy numbers (median 2nAMY2B=11) in a majority of dogs but no, or few, duplications (median 2nAMY2B=3) in a small group of dogs originating mostly in Australia and the Arctic. We show that this pattern correlates geographically to the spread of prehistoric agriculture and conclude that the diet change may not have been associated with initial domestication but rather the subsequent development and spread of agriculture to most, but not all regions of the globe.
KW - Adaptation, Physiological
KW - Agriculture
KW - Animals
KW - Animals, Domestic
KW - Arctic Regions
KW - Australia
KW - Breeding
KW - Canidae/genetics
KW - DNA Copy Number Variations
KW - Diet
KW - Dogs/genetics
KW - Domestication
KW - Pancreatic alpha-Amylases/genetics
KW - Starch
U2 - 10.1038/hdy.2016.48
DO - 10.1038/hdy.2016.48
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 27406651
VL - 117
SP - 301
EP - 306
JO - Heredity
JF - Heredity
SN - 0018-067X
IS - 5
ER -
ID: 209173113