Gene+Mutation+Linked+To+Increased+Athletic+Performance+in+Whippets

[|Science Daily] May 7, 2007

Whippets (a type of dog) are breed for speed. These dogs look like greyhounds and are able to run at speed around 40 miles per hour for over a 200 yard course. Scientists at the NHGRI (National Human Genome Research institute), which is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have recently found a genetic mutation that helps explains why some whippets run even faster than others. A branch of the NHGRI’s Division of Intramural Research, says that a mutation in a gene that codes for protein (known as myostadin) can increase the muscle mass of whippets, which allows to run even faster. Dogs, like humans, have two copies of all the genes, one gene inherited from both the father and the mother. Dr. Ostrander and her colleagues have reported that whippets with one normal copy and one mutated copy of the myostadin tend to have more muscle than normal. They have also found out that whippets with two mutated copies of the myostadin tend to have a gross excess of muscle and are seen as competitive racing dogs. Whippets have been bred for centuries and for several different reasons, other than racing. Sometimes, the litters of whippet puppies have lots of muscle and often get cramps in the thighs and shoulders. To further their knowledge of the myostadin gene in whippets and its effect on the racing performance of these dogs, the NHGRI- led team analyzed whippet DNA samples that were collected from several different owners and breeders. The researchers found out that after sequencing 22 whippets: 4 were bully whippets, 5 had given birth of sired bully whippets, and 13 were normal whippets that had no relation to a bully whippet. In the bully whippets that had both copies of myostadin gene had a tiny mutation, which was a deletion of just 2 of the gene’s 5,083 DNA bases. This deletion resulted in the production of an abnormally shortened version of the myostadin protein. Of the whippets that produced bully whippet, each one of them had one mutated, and one normal copy of the gene. No other mutations were found in the myostadin genes of any of the other whippets tested. Scientists have recently discovered this, and continue to look for more answers in these dogs.

Frank Holecek March 19, 2010