Analysis of founder and ancestor contribution to the Golden and Labrador Retriever populations in the area of Cracow Branch of the Polish Kennel Club

The study examines the founder and ancestor contribution to the active population of Golden retrievers (GR) and Labrador retrievers (LR) recorded in the herdbook of Cracow Branch of the Polish Kennel Club. Pedigrees of 192 GR dogs (84 males and 108 females) born in 1998-2007 and 272 LR (110 males and 162 females) born in 1997-2007, were used. The effective numbers of founders were 52 and 96 for GR and LR, respectively. In the GR reference population the contribution of 22 main founders explained about 51% of the gene pool. Four founders contributed from 2% to ca.6% of genes; the others only 1-2%. Of the 23 main founders in the LR population four top founders contributed from 2% to 4% of genes, while the rest only 1-2%. The group of the LR main founders explained about 41% of the gene variation. In the GR population 28 main ancestors explained over 71% of their gene pool. Four GR ancestors made from 3% to over 9% gene contribution. The rest of the GR ancestors contributed 1-3%. Also 28 main ancestors were found in the LR reference population, with contributions explaining over 63% of variation. Six of them had the highest gene contribution – from 3% to 6.5%, the next 5 – from 2% to about 3%, and the rest 1-2%. Six animals in the GR reference population, and 5 in the LR, were both main founders and main ancestors. At present, the gene pools of both populations are not endangered.