Four novel genes associated with longevity found in Cane Corso purebred dogs

Abstract Background: Longevity-related genes have been found in several animal species as well as in humans. The goal of this study was to perform genetic analysis of long-lived Cane Corso dogs with the aim to find genes that are associated with longevity. Results: SNPs with particular nucleotides were significantly overrepresented in long-lived dogs in four genes, TDRP, MC2R, FBXO25 and FBXL21. In FBXL21, the longevity-associated SNP localises to the exon. In the FBXL21 protein, tryptophan in long-lived dogs replaced arginine present in reference dogs.Conclusions: Four SNPs associated with longevity in dogs were identified using GWAS. We conclude that genes TDRP, MC2R, FBXO25 and FBXL21 are associated with longevity in Cane Corso dogs.