Highly read on www.plos.org in October

An analysis of several dozen dog breeds has yielded a genetic catalogue that can be used to search for information about complex canine traits and diseases. Matthew Webster of Uppsala University in Sweden and his colleagues looked for single-base changes in the DNA of 509 dogs representing 46 breeds. The dogs spanned a wide range of shapes, colours and sizes, from tiny chihuahuas to huge Newfoundlands.

The researchers found 44 regions of the genome that varied widely between some breeds, and hundreds of regions that varied very little within breeds, suggesting that years of breeding have selected for traits based in these regions. Closer examination of such regions revealed various gene associations, including one that causes leg deformities in dachshunds and another for wrinkled skins in Shar Peis.

PLoS Genet. 7, e1002316 (2011)