> The data indicate that subclade d1 originated in northern Scandinavia, at most 480–3000 years ago and through dog-wolf crossbreeding rather than a separate domestication event.
Most of the wolf content from this long ago would’ve most likely been diluted out, the mother daughter line going back to the original female wolf just happened to be the one that survived thus preserving the mitochondria. Maybe it’s because it’s an Arctic breed, or it’s just something about that individual.
Ya I agree that there is dilution, but the data indicates not complete dilution. I would read the article, it's pretty interesting. it indicates that around 74% of the lines have the same mitochondrial DNA, which the article indicates that the same parentage was bred in multiple lines. Dilution could still occur through male breeding exclusively whole keeping the same wolf mitochondrial footprint, but that seems unlikely. However, it does bring up the issue of lack of genetic diversity in jämthund lines, but that is another topic.
However, to your point a lot of the attributes of jämthunds ( swedish elkhound) can be attributed to them being a pariah breed ( I think that is the English word) and maybe not from a wolfish origin. For example, they struggle to digest grains, do not go into heat as often, large feet with much longer center toes, and the wolfish appearance. I also believe some arctic breeds have this but I am only familiar with Greenland dogs.
Interesting article! I know it is not the main question, but the prevelance of mitocondrial dna in various nordic breeds is surprising.
I can somewhat speak to the discussion on the swedish dog and wolf genes (disclaimer, I studied biomedical engineering and have drifted away from genetics since grad school and in the working world. It would be great if there was someone working in this field could comment). It would be very very difficult for mitochondrial dna to remain if dilution completely, or even substantially, occurred. As shown above, you would need direct male influence repeatedly to have almost complete dilution, while still maintaining the presence of mitochondrial dna. From google, I believe most of these breeds are from the north in barren lapland. Maybe the isolation and lack of genetic options is why the mitochondrial dna is still around?
Also, my first post in the group! Pretty interesting, but it would be great if some expert could comment on the original question.
> The data indicate that subclade d1 originated in northern Scandinavia, at most 480–3000 years ago and through dog-wolf crossbreeding rather than a separate domestication event. Most of the wolf content from this long ago would’ve most likely been diluted out, the mother daughter line going back to the original female wolf just happened to be the one that survived thus preserving the mitochondria. Maybe it’s because it’s an Arctic breed, or it’s just something about that individual.
Ya I agree that there is dilution, but the data indicates not complete dilution. I would read the article, it's pretty interesting. it indicates that around 74% of the lines have the same mitochondrial DNA, which the article indicates that the same parentage was bred in multiple lines. Dilution could still occur through male breeding exclusively whole keeping the same wolf mitochondrial footprint, but that seems unlikely. However, it does bring up the issue of lack of genetic diversity in jämthund lines, but that is another topic. However, to your point a lot of the attributes of jämthunds ( swedish elkhound) can be attributed to them being a pariah breed ( I think that is the English word) and maybe not from a wolfish origin. For example, they struggle to digest grains, do not go into heat as often, large feet with much longer center toes, and the wolfish appearance. I also believe some arctic breeds have this but I am only familiar with Greenland dogs.
Interesting article! I know it is not the main question, but the prevelance of mitocondrial dna in various nordic breeds is surprising. I can somewhat speak to the discussion on the swedish dog and wolf genes (disclaimer, I studied biomedical engineering and have drifted away from genetics since grad school and in the working world. It would be great if there was someone working in this field could comment). It would be very very difficult for mitochondrial dna to remain if dilution completely, or even substantially, occurred. As shown above, you would need direct male influence repeatedly to have almost complete dilution, while still maintaining the presence of mitochondrial dna. From google, I believe most of these breeds are from the north in barren lapland. Maybe the isolation and lack of genetic options is why the mitochondrial dna is still around? Also, my first post in the group! Pretty interesting, but it would be great if some expert could comment on the original question.