This signature, found on an ephrin receptor, which influences behaviour and neural activity, helps explain these breeds’ intrinsically sensitive, intelligent and focused nature.
Herding dogs, such as border collies and German shepherds, have unique behaviours, or phenotypic traits, compared to other dogs.
For example, they still have hunting instincts such as strategic chasing and staring, but have lost the urge to kill.
Researchers, led by Hankyeol Jeong, discovered specific genetic changes in herding dogs, because of selective breeding, that contribute to their smarts, instincts, and fine motor skills.
They conducted whole-genome sequencing of 12 herding breeds and 91 non-herding breeds to find these differences.
They found that herding dogs have positive selection for educational attainment (which they equated with human-assisted problem-solving for dogs) and intelligence.
Focusing further on border collies, they identified changes in eight genes related to memory, learning, social interaction, and spatial awareness.
One gene, EPHB1, which is important for spatial memory, had many variations in herding dogs.
In border collies, EPHB1 gave the breed a distinct haplotype associated with chase-bite motor patterns necessary in the dogs’ specific line of work.
Professor Matt Littlejohn is a Professor in Animal Genetics at Massey University.
He said the research gave a glimpse into the reasons behind working dogs’ skills.
“High-performance farm dogs show exceptional abilities that set them apart from the average pooch, and this study gives some insight into genetic factors that may contribute to that,” he said.
Littlejohn said the study was significant because identifying genes underlying behavioural traits has been “notoriously difficult” – both in dog and human genetics.
However, he said the results would need to be validated.
“Breakthroughs in behavioural genetics have been hard-won because the traits are complex, so while the study highlights one gene in particular with a likely role in working behaviour, the next step will be to test the gene in bigger populations and confirm that role.”
More about the study
The research paper, Genomic evidence for behavioural adaptation of herding dogs, was published in Science Advances.
The herding dog group consisted of seven Belgian sheepdogs, five Belgian Malinois, 11 Belgian Tervurens, five Bouvier des Flandres, 15 border collies, seven bearded collies, five Pembroke Welsh corgis, five Shetland sheepdogs, six Berger Picards, five Australian cattle dogs, 15 German shepherd dogs, and five Australian shepherds.
Researchers looked for genes tied to phenotypic traits defined in a comprehensive database of human genome-wide association studies called the NHGRI-EBI GWAS Catalog.
The research was conducted by Hankyeol Jeong and Jaemin Kim, of Gyeongsang National University, Republic of Korea, and Elaine A. Ostrander, of the National Human Genome Research Institute, of the National Institiutes of Health, Bethesda, US.
It was funded by the National Human Genome Research Institute and the Ministry of Science and ICT, South Korea.
