DNA types/variations and their occurrence in Samoyeds (Finnish study)

During the conference WSA (World Samoyed Meeting) in Birmingham, England, August 2012, the Finnish Samoyed Club presented a DNA study done on the Finnish breed population in 2010, where it emerged that the breed is very badly exposed in terms of variation occurrence of DNA types. In the study, 54 dogs from different family groups were tested, including imported lines/family groups from the rest of the world. The majority of the dogs in the study, approx. 75%, showed such strong homozygous genetics that the most commonly occurring DNA type was Samu1 and more exceptionally Samu2, and in extremely exceptional cases there was an additional variant in a single individual, which indicates a very heavily inbred population. Most breeds have 3-5 dominant variations, the Samoyed has 1 and in exceptional cases 2. According to the Finnish Samoyed Club, they have yet to find a single individual from the English population that exhibits anything other than 1 dominant DNA type (Samu1), the population lacks entirely genetic variation. This means that the Samoyed has less genetic variability preserved than most other domesticated dog breeds. In Finland, it has been concluded that the breed is genetically so badly exposed that if Samu1 is allowed to continue to dominate and knock out the other more exceptionally occurring DNA variants, the breed will have difficulty surviving the next decade. We will not know what the Swedish and also the Swedish/Norwegian population looks like until similar studies have been carried out on our thos population as well. But we can assume that the breed are genetically dangerous even in the rest of the Scandinavian population, as a similar historical breeding tradition is behind most populations around the world where inbreeding and feeder breeding have strongly dominated. This study should be taken into account when interpreting the results of the digitally calculated effective population size (Ne). Even if Ne is individually above the critical level for the survival of a species, we can still ask how viable the breed population is genetically? Old inbreeding never goes away. For further information about this study see link below.

Above: The Finnish study of genetic variation in its entirety.