Pending Grant No: 779:
Characterization of the Canine Y Chromosome: Identifying Genes that Cause Male Infertility
Researcher(s):
William J. Murphy -Texas A&M University

Abstract:

Studies of the human and mouse Y chromosomes have shown that they contain many testis specific genes that when defective cause infertility and spermatogenesis defects. The causes of male infertility in dogs are not well known. Though much is now known about genes on the dog autosomes and X chromosome, owing to the canine genome sequence, virtually nothing is known about the canine Y chromosome and the genes it harbors. This study will exhaustively characterize the gene content of the dog Y chromosome by sequencing from a cDNA selection library that is enriched for Y chromosome gene transcripts. This procedure will isolate the majority of canine Y chromosome genes and the DNA fragments they reside on, which will be mapped in the dog genome.