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Genetics of canine olfaction and receptor diversity

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Abstract

Olfaction is a particularly important sense in the dog. Humans selected for this capacity during the domestication process, and selection has continued to be employed to enhance this ability. In this review we first describe the different olfactory systems that exist and the different odorant receptors that are expressed in those systems. We then focus on the dog olfactory receptors by describing the olfactory receptor gene repertoire and its polymorphisms. Finally, we discuss the different uses of dog olfaction and the questions that still need to be studied.

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Acknowledgments

We deeply thank Dr. Jean-Paul Boidot for providing the schematic drawing of the dog head and Dr. Tyrone C. Spady for careful reading and editing of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Pascale Quignon.

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Quignon, P., Rimbault, M., Robin, S. et al. Genetics of canine olfaction and receptor diversity. Mamm Genome 23, 132–143 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00335-011-9371-1

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