Polymorphism of olfactory and neurotransmitters receptor genes in drug and explosives detection dogs can be associated with differences in detection performance

• Published in: Applied animal behaviour science 2019-06, Vol.215, p.52-60
• Main Authors: Sacharczuk, Mariusz, Walczak, Marta, Adamkiewicz, Ewa, Walasek, Artur, Ensminger, John, Presch, Małgorzata, Jezierski, Tadeusz
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acuity; Alleles; Detection performance; Dogs; Dopamine; Dopamine D1 receptors; Dopamine D2 receptors; Dopamine receptors; Dopamine transporter; Explosives; Explosives detection; Gene polymorphism; Genes; Genotypes; Loci; Monoamines; Neurotransmission; Neurotransmitters; Neurotransmitters receptor genes; Nucleotides; Olfactory receptor genes; Operant conditioning; Police dogs; Polymorphism; Protein transport; Serotonin; Serotonin S2 receptors; Single-nucleotide polymorphism; Sniffer dogs
• ISSN: 0168-1591; 1872-9045
• DOI: 10.1016/j.applanim.2019.04.006

•Polymorphisms in olfactory receptor genes are important for canine olfactory detection.•Polymorphisms in monoamine neurotransmitter receptor genes play an important role in olfactory learning.•Multiple specific haplotypes will we be able to establish reliable genetic markers of olfactory acuity. The aim of this study was to identify candidate genes that could be useful predictors of better detection performance in drugs and explosives detection dogs. Single nucleotide polymorphisms in selected canine olfactory receptor genes responsible for olfactory acuity (OR1P2-like, OR51H5-like, OR52N9-like,OR52P3-like, OR9S13-like), and genes related to the serotoninergic (SLC6A4-like, HTR1A, HTR2B-like) and dopaminergic (SLC6A3-like, DRD1-like, DRD2-like) neurotransmission with a documented role in operant conditioning, were analysed. From a total of 91 certified drug and 57 explosives detection dogs, 10 individuals demonstrating the best and 10 with the poorest detection performance, as evaluated by detection speed and style of searching, were chosen for genetic studies. In this work for the first time we show that not only polymorphisms in selected canine olfactory receptor genes, but also polymorphisms in genes encoding the transporter protein for dopamine uptake or the 5-HT2B receptor, are important for canine olfactory detection. The G allele at the OR52N9-like:c.176 A > G and OR52N9-like:c.288 T > G loci had a negative, whereas the A allele at the OR9S13-like:c.592 G > A locus had a positive, effect on the dogs' detection performance measured as mean search time and mean search style. Additionally, the presence of the C allele in the SLC6A3-like:c.181 G > C locus and the A allele in HTR2B-like:c.596 G > A locus was associated with reduced detection performance. We suggest that good candidate dogs for detection training could be chosen for military and civilian service based on favourable genotypes in the olfactory and monoamine neurotransmitter receptor genes. This, however, should be investigated further in studies, particularly using dogs with the alleles of the candidate genes we have identified as correlated with increased performance.