ANALYSIS OF MICROSATELLITE POLYMORPHISMS IN BERNESE MOUNTAIN DOGS ANDNEWFOUNDLAND

As the number of detected inherited diseases in dogs is increasing, li nkage mapping offers an opportunity for the localisation of the respon sible genes. In humans microsatellites are ideal markers for construct ing high-resolution genetic maps. Twenty-five dog specific microsatell ites which are highly polymorphic in mined dog breeds,were tested by P CR in a group of unrelated Newfoundlands and Bernese Mountain dogs. Th e polymorphisms found in this two breeds were clearly lower than in th e mixed breeds suggesting that only 40% of the markers tested would be useful for linkage analysis. In addition die allele frequencies and d istributions differed among this two purebred but related breeds. Our data suggest that a selection for useful markers for each specific bre ed has to be performed prior to Linkage analysis.