FEDO.HU - with one click for responsible Kuvasz breeding

Background: Nowadays, high levels of inbreeding can be observed in most dog breeds, causing a decrease of genetic diversity and an emerging problem of familiar genetic diseases in pure-bred populations. Hungarian dog breeds are not exceptions either. The Hungarian Kuvasz Breeder Association (MKFE) is considered to be responsible for the welfare of the Kuvasz - the health of this dogs has to be taken into account when defining breed standard. Objectives: The authors calculated the inbreeding coefficient (COI) for the living stock of Kuvasz based on pedigree data provided by the MKFE. The results were compared to data obtained from genotyping studies using microsatellites (STR alleles). Materials and Methods: The authors established FEDO.HU, an online calculator of COI, which uses the pedigree data registered by the MKFE. An algorithm was developed to be able to calculate the exact COI of the planned offspring. The COI calculator is limited to examin six ancestral lines of the selected dam and sire. Molecular parentage control STR tests were performed on 768 native varieties by the NEBIH parentage control laboratory. Canine STR-panels recommended by the International Society for Animal Genetics (ISAG) were used for the genotyping tests. The results were processed by means of the Genetic Analyses in Excel (GenAlEx) 6.5 platform. Results and Discussion: The COI of the living stock born after 01.10.2011 is 5.36%. The highest inbreeding value in the dataset is 25%, these individuals were born in the previous century. Although there are few animals with 20% inbreeding value that were born recently. The number of the breed's founders was 517. The Fis indicated low inbreeding in Kuvasz breed, the values of observed and expected heterozygosity overlapped. Hence we have the opportunity to preserve the genetic diversity of the breed with matings planned properly.