RANDOMLY AMPLIFIED DNA POLYMORPHISMS IN DOGS ARE REPRODUCIBLE AND DISPLAY MENDELIAN TRANSMISSION

Many inherited diseases occur in pure-bred dogs, but diagnosis at the level of DNA is impossible because the canine genome is largely unknow n. Random amplification of polymorphic DNA (RAPD) provides many polymo rphisms, but the reproducibility and Mendelian inheritance are not bey ond doubt. An optimized polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was developed for canine DNA with respect to the annealing temperature and the conce ntrations of MgCl2, template DNA and primers. RAPD amplification produ cts were in the range of 100-1500 base pairs. With six primers, 21 dif ferent reactions with different electrophoretic patterns were obtained , yielding 9-29 products per reaction. In DNA from dogs of Is differen t breeds, 14% of the products were polymorphic; when only beagles were included the rate of polymorphism was 10%. Ah of the reaction product s were completely reproducible in 16 DNA samples. Mendelian transmissi on was analysed in six beagle families [42 dogs). The segregation of p olymorphic amplification products in 21 reactions performed on DNA fro m all beagles was nearly complete; in only two of the 630 reactions wa s there a product that could not be traced back to either of the paren ts. The reproducibility and Mendelian behaviour of polymorphisms gener ated by RAPD in dogs makes this tool very suitable for development of DNA markers of canine inherited diseases.