H&G Update

July 28, 2004
The following note from Dr. Gary Johnson, University of Missouri, was just sent to Dr. Scott Kellogg, DVM and H&G Chairman for the USKBTC. It is with the permission of both Dr. Johnson and Dr. Kellogg, that this is published to the uskbt-list and is placed on the USKBTC website.

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USKBTC Website
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Dr. Johnson's Note:

Scott
I’m sorry that premature release of our research finding has occurred and that it has resulted in so much confusion. We are not yet done with our research but we have made substantial progress. With the help of the Marshfield Laboratories, we have been able to determine the approximate location of the mutation responsible for PNA in Kerry Blue Terriers and Chinese Crested Dogs.

Thus, we have narrowed our search to a particular region of a specific chromosome, thereby eliminating 99% of the dog genome and most of the 30,000 canine genes. Nonetheless, this still leaves us with a chromosomal segment containing about 200 genes to investigate. We can make some guesses based on what is known about the genes in this target region and at least six genes seem possible candidates for containing the PNA-causing mutation. Nothing is known about the function of approximately half the genes in the target so if the mutation is in one of these genes, it may take a lot more work before we can find it.

We are proceeding with two efforts. We are taking a hard look at a likely candidate gene and we are devising new markers to further narrow our search region. We need to fit this work in between other research responsibilities so we expect these two projects to take about three weeks to complete. At that point we should be able to better predict what will be required to produce a useful DNA test to detect PNA carriers.

I am glad to hear that there is excitement about the possibility of a PNA test and we will keep you informed as to our progress.

Gary

Last Updated: 07/28/2004, 11:29 am