Genetic variability among native dog breeds in Turkey

In this study, the genetic structures and relationships of native Turkish dog breeds were investigated using 20 polymorphic loci (17 microsatellites and 3 proteins). For this aim, a total of 141 blood samples were taken from Turkish shepherd dogs and Turkish Greyhounds located in several geographical regions of Turkey. Multilocus FST values indicated that around 1.92% of the total genetic variation could be explained by breed differences and the remaining 98.08% by differences among individuals. The gene flow between populations within each generation varied between 8.4 (Akbash–White Kars Shepherd dog pairs) and 62.3 (Black–Grey Kars Shepherd dog pairs). Four different groups appeared in the 3-dimensional factorial correspondence analysis, and among these, dogs from the Akbash, Kangal, Kars Shepherd, and Turkish Greyhound breeds grouped in clearly separated clusters in distant parts of the 3-dimensional graph. These results clearly show that Akbash and Kangal Shepherd dogs are different populations with different genetic structures. Therefore, the generalised grouping of Turkish shepherd dogs into a single breed called Anatolian or Turkish shepherd dogs is incorrect.