Dog

Primary lens luxation is an autosomal recessive eye disease that causes inflammation and glaucoma. Lens luxation occurs between the ages of 3 and 8, with the lens moving away from its normal position ( luxation) with symptoms including red, watery eyes. If left untreated, PLL can quickly lead to blindness. The test can be performed for any breed, but is most commonly found in the breeds listed below.

Mutated dogs are naked except for the tips of the legs, the tail and the top of the head. Some dogs have very abnormal teeth, many of which are missing. In the Chinese Crested Dog, mating hairless individuals can lead to a reduction in litter size, as the presence of a double dose of the mutation in homozygous puppies results in prenatal mortality.

Degenerative myelopathy is a neurodegenerative disease that progresses slowly and has a late onset (8 years or more). The initial clinical sign is characterised by hind limb ataxia. As the disease progresses, the frequently observed asymmetric weakness rises to affect the thoracic limbs, resulting in paraplegia. The majority of DM2/DM2 animals will not develop symptoms, however, elimination of these animals from breeding patterns reduces the genetic variability of the breed, which is why Progenus does not recommend this test.

This panel includes five specific analyses related to coat colour: agouti (DOG-LOCUS-A), brown (DOG-LOCUS-B), extension (DOG-LOCUS-E), dominant black (DOG-LOCUS-K) and dilution (DOG-LOCUS-D).

The A locus or agouti gene affects the colour of the dog's coat. There are 4 variants of the A locus: Ay (tan or sand), Aw (wolf grey or wolf sand), at (black and tan) and a (black recessive). The colour of the dog's coat is the result of the interaction of different genes including the A, B, E and K loci.

The B (brown) locus refers to a mutation in the TYRP1 gene causing the brown colour of the coat, also called liver or chocolate. The black (B) allele is dominant over the brown alleles (bs, bd, bc). For red or yellow dogs, the brown allele will not change the colour of the coat, but will change the colour of the nose and the pads of the paws. Other mutations can cause brown coat colour in the Australian Shepherd (DOG-LOCUS-B-BGAUST) and Lancashire Heeler (DOG-LOCUS-B-LHEELER). This test does not detect the mutation for chocolate (DOG-COCOA) in French Bulldogs.

The B (brown) locus refers to different mutations in the TYRP1 gene causing the brown coat colour. In the Lancashire Heeler, a specific mutation (be) has been identified in addition to the classic mutations (bs, bd, bc) in the Locus-B test.

The B (brown) locus refers to different mutations in the TYRP1 gene causing the brown coat colour. In the Australian Shepherd, a specific mutation (b4) has been identified in addition to the classic mutations (bs, bd, bc) in the Locus-B test.

The locus E or extension refers to a mutation in the MC1R gene. Dogs with one or two dominant E alleles produce eumelanin (black pigment) while dogs with two copies of the e^1 allele will have a red or yellow coat. For dogs with at least one E allele, coat colour will be determined by other genes, including the A, B, D and K locus. Two other variants of this mutation were identified in 2018: the e^2 allele found in the Australian Cattle Dog (see DOG-LOCUS-E-CATTLEDOG) and the e^3 allele in the Husky (see DOG-LOCUS-E-HUSKY).

The E locus or extension refers to a mutation in the MC1R gene. For this test code, the mutation tested is the e^3 mutation. In the husky, dogs with two copies of the e^1 or e^3 alleles will have a white coat. For the e^1 allele and other breeds, see the following link:  DOG-LOCUS-E.