Lack of significant associations with early career performance suggest no link between the DMRT3 “Gait Keeper” mutation and precocity in Coldblooded trotters.
Abstract: The Swedish-Norwegian Coldblooded trotter (CBT) is a local breed in Sweden and Norway mainly used for harness racing. Previous studies have shown that a mutation from cytosine (C) to adenine (A) in the doublesex and mab-3 related transcription factor 3 (DMRT3) gene has a major impact on harness racing performance of different breeds. An association of the DMRT3 mutation with early career performance has also been suggested. The aim of the current study was to investigate this proposed association in a randomly selected group of CBTs. 769 CBTs (485 raced, 284 unraced) were genotyped for the DMRT3 mutation. The association with racing performance was investigated for 13 performance traits and three different age intervals: 3 years, 3 to 6 years, and 7 to 10 years of age, using the statistical software R. Each performance trait was analyzed for association with DMRT3 using linear models. The results suggest no association of the DMRT3 mutation with precocity (i.e. performance at 3 years of age). Only two traits (race time and number of disqualifications) were significantly different between the genotypes, with AA horses having the fastest times and CC horses having the highest number of disqualifications at 3 years of age. The frequency of the AA genotype was significantly lower in the raced CBT sample compared with the unraced sample and less than 50% of the AA horses participated in a race. For the age intervals 3 to 6 and 7 to 10 years the AA horses also failed to demonstrate significantly better performance than the other genotypes. Although suggested as the most favorable genotype for racing performance in Standardbreds and Finnhorses across all ages, the AA genotype does not appear to be associated with superior performance, early or late, in the racing career of CBTs.
Publication Date: 2017-05-10 PubMed ID: 28489879PubMed Central: PMC5425215DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0177351Google Scholar: Lookup
The Equine Research Bank provides access to a large database of publicly available scientific literature. Inclusion in the Research Bank does not imply endorsement of study methods or findings by Mad Barn.
- Journal Article
Summary
This research summary has been generated with artificial intelligence and may contain errors and omissions. Refer to the original study to confirm details provided. Submit correction.
The research article examines the potential link between the DMRT3 “Gait Keeper” mutation and the early racing career performance of Swedish-Norwegian Coldblooded trotters (CBT), a breed used in harness racing. The study reveals that there is no significant association between the mutation and the horse’s racing performance at different age intervals.
Background of the Study
- The study focused on the Swedish-Norwegian Coldblooded trotter (CBT), a breed used predominantly in harness racing.
- Previous research has indicated that a mutation in the DMRT3 gene can significantly impact the racing performance of diverse horse breeds.
- Prior studies suggested an association of the DMRT3 mutation with horses’ early career performance.
Objective and Method of the Study
- The primary objective of this study was to investigate the suggested association between the DMRT3 mutation and early career performance in a randomly chosen group of CBTs.
- The study involved genotyping the DMRT3 mutation in 769 CBTs, of which 485 had raced before while 284 had not yet raced.
- The research examined the potential link of the mutation with the performance of the horses at three different age intervals, namely 3 years, between 3 to 6 years, and between 7 to 10 years of age, using a statistical software, R.
- Thirteen different performance traits were analyzed for their possible association with the DMRT3 mutation with the help of linear models.
Results of the Study
- Contrary to prior suggestions, the DMRT3 mutation showed no significant association with precocity, which is performance at the age of 3.
- Only two traits, race time and number of disqualifications, were significantly different across genotypes. Specifically, horses with the AA genotype evidenced the fastest times while those with the CC genotype had the highest number of disqualifications.
- The frequency of the AA genotype was materially lower in the sample of raced CBTs compared to the unraced ones, with less than 50% of AA horses having participated in a race.
- For the age groups of 3 to 6 years and 7 to 10 years, the AA horses failed to display a significantly superior performance compared to other genotypes.
- Despite being proposed as the most favorable genotype for racing performance in Standardbreds and Finnhorses across all age groups, the AA genotype does not appear to contribute to superior performance in CBTs, whether early or late in their racing careers.
Cite This Article
APA
Jäderkvist Fegraeus K, Lawrence C, Petäjistö K, Johansson MK, Wiklund M, Olsson C, Andersson L, Andersson LS, Røed KH, Ihler CF, Strand E, Lindgren G, Velie BD.
(2017).
Lack of significant associations with early career performance suggest no link between the DMRT3 “Gait Keeper” mutation and precocity in Coldblooded trotters.
PLoS One, 12(5), e0177351.
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0177351 Publication
Researcher Affiliations
- Department of Animal Breeding and Genetics, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden.
- Department of Animal Breeding and Genetics, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden.
- Department of Animal Breeding and Genetics, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden.
- Department of Animal Breeding and Genetics, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden.
- Department of Clinical Sciences, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden.
- The Swedish Trotting Association, Bromma, Sweden.
- Department of Animal Breeding and Genetics, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden.
- Department of Medical Biochemistry and Microbiology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
- Department of Veterinary Integrative Biosciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, United States of America.
- Capilet Genetics AB, Västerås, Sweden.
- Department of Basic Sciences and Aquatic Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Oslo, Norway.
- Department of Companion Animal Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Oslo, Norway.
- Department of Companion Animal Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Oslo, Norway.
- Department of Animal Breeding and Genetics, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden.
- Department of Animal Breeding and Genetics, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden.
MeSH Terms
- Animals
- Breeding
- Gait
- Genotype
- Horses / genetics
- Horses / physiology
- Mutation
- Norway
- Physical Conditioning, Animal
- Point Mutation
- Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide
- Running
- Sweden
- Transcription Factor 3 / genetics
Conflict of Interest Statement
We have the following interests. Lisa S. Andersson is employed by Capilet Genetics AB and Christina Olsson by The Swedish Trotting Association. Leif Andersson, Lisa S. Andersson and Gabriella Lindgren are co-inventors on a granted patent concerning commercial testing of the DMRT3 mutation: A method to predict the pattern of locomotion in horses. PCT EP12 747 875.8. European patent registration date: 2011-05-05, US patent registration date: 2011-08-03. There are no further patents, products in development or marketed products to declare. This does not alter our adherence to all the PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials, as detailed online in the guide for authors.
References
This article includes 16 references
- Thiruvenkadan AK, Kandasamy N, Panneerselvam S. Inheritance of racing performance of trotter horses: An overview.. Livest Sci 2009;124: 163–181.
- The Swedish Trotting Association. Medelindex. 2012. https://www.travsport.se/polopoly_fs/1.356298!/menu/standard/file/medelindex_svf_kb_76-12.pdf. Accessed December 14, 2016.
- The Swedish Trotting Association. 5 Feb 2014. Avelsvärdering av kallblodiga hingstar. 2014. https://www.travsport.se/artikel/avelsvardering_av_kallblod. Accessed December 14, 2016.
- Andersson LS, Larhammar M, Memic F, Wootz H, Schwochow D, Rubin CJ, Patra K, Arnason T, Wellbring L, Hjälm G, Imsland F, Petersen JL, McCue ME, Mickelson JR, Cothran G, Ahituv N, Roepstorff L, Mikko S, Vallstedt A, Lindgren G, Andersson L, Kullander K. Mutations in DMRT3 affect locomotion in horses and spinal circuit function in mice.. Nature 2012 Aug 30;488(7413):642-6.
- Promerová M, Andersson LS, Juras R, Penedo MC, Reissmann M, Tozaki T, Bellone R, Dunner S, Hořín P, Imsland F, Imsland P, Mikko S, Modrý D, Roed KH, Schwochow D, Vega-Pla JL, Mehrabani-Yeganeh H, Yousefi-Mashouf N, G Cothran E, Lindgren G, Andersson L. Worldwide frequency distribution of the 'Gait keeper' mutation in the DMRT3 gene.. Anim Genet 2014 Apr;45(2):274-82.
- Jäderkvist K, Andersson LS, Johansson AM, Árnason T, Mikko S, Eriksson S, Andersson L, Lindgren G. The DMRT3 'Gait keeper' mutation affects performance of Nordic and Standardbred trotters.. J Anim Sci 2014 Oct;92(10):4279-86.
- Jäderkvist Fegraeus K, Johansson L, Mäenpää M, Mykkänen A, Andersson LS, Velie BD, Andersson L, Árnason T, Lindgren G. Different DMRT3 Genotypes Are Best Adapted for Harness Racing and Riding in Finnhorses.. J Hered 2015 Nov-Dec;106(6):734-40.
- R Development Core Team. ‘R: A Language and Environment for Statistical Computing’. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna Austria: 2011.
- Árnason T. Genetic evaluation of Swedish standardbred trotters for racing performance traits and racing status.. J Anim Breed Genet 1999;116: 387–398.
- Valuta. https://www.valuta.se. Accessed June 4 2016.
- González JR, Armengol L, Solé X, Guinó E, Mercader JM, Estivill X, Moreno V. SNPassoc: an R package to perform whole genome association studies.. Bioinformatics 2007 Mar 1;23(5):644-5.
- Árnason T. The importance of different traits in genetic improvement of trotters.. Proceedings of World Congress on Genetics Applied to Livestock Production University of Guelph, Guelph, Canada. August 7–12, 1994;17: 462–469.
- Abdi H, Williams LJ. Tukey’s Honestly Significant Difference (HSD) Test. Encyclopedia of Research Design In: Salkind Neil (Ed.), Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage; 2010.
- Hill EW, Gu J, Eivers SS, Fonseca RG, McGivney BA, Govindarajan P, Orr N, Katz LM, MacHugh DE. A sequence polymorphism in MSTN predicts sprinting ability and racing stamina in thoroughbred horses.. PLoS One 2010 Jan 20;5(1):e8645.
- Kristjansson T, Bjornsdottir S, Albertsdóttir E, Sigurdsson A, Pourcelot P, Crevier-Denoix N. Association of conformation and riding ability in Icelandic horses.. Livest Sci 2016;189: 91–101.
- Ricard A. Does heterozygosity at the DMRT3 gene make French trotters better racers?. Genet Sel Evol 2015 Feb 26;47(1):10.
Citations
This article has been cited 4 times.- Ricard A, Duluard A. Genomic analysis of gaits and racing performance of the French trotter.. J Anim Breed Genet 2021 Mar;138(2):204-222.
- Velie BD, Fegraeus KJ, Solé M, Rosengren MK, Røed KH, Ihler CF, Strand E, Lindgren G. A genome-wide association study for harness racing success in the Norwegian-Swedish coldblooded trotter reveals genes for learning and energy metabolism.. BMC Genet 2018 Aug 29;19(1):80.
- Novoa-Bravo M, Jäderkvist Fegraeus K, Rhodin M, Strand E, García LF, Lindgren G. Selection on the Colombian paso horse's gaits has produced kinematic differences partly explained by the DMRT3 gene.. PLoS One 2018;13(8):e0202584.
- Jäderkvist Fegraeus K, Velie BD, Axelsson J, Ang R, Hamilton NA, Andersson L, Meadows JRS, Lindgren G. A potential regulatory region near the EDN3 gene may control both harness racing performance and coat color variation in horses.. Physiol Rep 2018 May;6(10):e13700.
Use Nutrition Calculator
Check if your horse's diet meets their nutrition requirements with our easy-to-use tool Check your horse's diet with our easy-to-use tool
Talk to a Nutritionist
Discuss your horse's feeding plan with our experts over a free phone consultation Discuss your horse's diet over a phone consultation
Submit Diet Evaluation
Get a customized feeding plan for your horse formulated by our equine nutritionists Get a custom feeding plan formulated by our nutritionists
