Microsatellite marker analysis of the genetic variability in Hanoverian Hounds

Genetic variability of the dog breed Hanoverian Hound was analysed using a set of 16 microsatellites. The sample of 92 dogs was representative for the total current population n = 334, inbreeding coefficient 9.2%, relationship coefficient 11.2%] with respect to the level and distribution of the inbreeding and relationship coefficients. All microsatellites used were in Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium. The average number of alleles was 6.4. The average observed heterozygosity (H_O) was slightly higher than the expected heterozygosity (H_E). Dinucleotide microsatellites exhibited lower polymorphism information content (PIC) than tetranucleotide microsatellites (0.52 versus 0.66). The average PIC was 0.61. The individual inbreeding coefficient was negatively related to the average H_O of all microsatellites, whereas the proportion of genes from introducing of Hanoverian Hounds from abroad showed no relationships to H_O. We found that the genetic variability in the Hanoverian Hounds analysed here was unexpectedly higher than that previously published for dog breeds of similar population size. Even in dog breeds of larger population size heterogyzosity was seldom higher than that observed here. The rather high genetic variability as quantified by polymorphic microsatellites in Hanoverian Hounds may be due to a large genetic variation in the founder animals of this breed and to the fact that this genetic diversity could be maintained despite genetic bottlenecks experienced by this breed in the 1920s and 1950s and despite the presence of high inbreeding and relationship coefficients for more than 50 years.